CLARESSA SHIELDS admitted ‘egos’ are to blame for boxers not following her to MMA and putting their reputation on the line.
Shields is one of the most decorated fighters ever at just the age of 26, and proclaims to be the ‘Greatest Woman of All Time’.
She has strong case too, with double Olympic gold medals, belts in three divisions and becoming boxing’s first-ever two weight undisputed champion.
But to further enhance her legacy, Shields last year debuted in MMA with the Professional Fighters League.
She remains the only boxing champ putting her money where her mouth is by fighting in both combat codes, but does not expect too many to follow.
Shields told SunSport: “Ego, men have a lot of egos, a lot of boxers have egos.
“They want to be great at what they’re great at and the minute they’re faced with something uncomfortable or abnormal, they don’t want to do it.
“I don’t think we will ever see a man be a world champion in boxing and then go and try be a world champion in MMA, where that’s PFL or the UFC, or whatever.
“I don’t believe it will ever happen and if it does, the only boxer that would do it is Terence Crawford, because he’s got a wrestling background and he’s a great boxer.”
Shields won her MMA debut in June, beating Brittney Elkin in the third and final round of her bout.
But for only the second time in her life, the American in October suffered defeat, losing on points to Abigail Montes.
The last time Shields was beaten was an amateur boxer against Britain’s Savannah Marshall in the 2012 world championships.
But she is in line to attempt revenge in a super-fight with Marshall, 30, this year.
It leaves her return to MMA set for 2023, where she will eye PFL’s winner-take-all $1million season, consisting of a quarters, semis and final format.
Only Shields’ MMA training partner Holly Holm, 40 has won world honours in both MMA and boxing.
But if she is to replicate that success, following on from her already unprecedented boxing career, it leaves her among fighting’s elite.
Shields said: “Overall in terms of combat sports, I should be up there in the top two, for sure.
“It’s unprecedented, it’s never been done before and that’s what people want to see, extraordinary things.
“And the fact that I’m willing to put my reputation, my record, put everything on the line to achieve the PFL world title, it shows my character.
“It shows that grit that fighter say they have, but you can’t just say you have grit, you have to show it.”
