Boxing

Claressa Shields Declares She's 'Neck And Neck' With Floyd Mayweather

Women's boxing legend Claressa Shields made a strong claim about where she compares to Floyd Mayweather.
Grant Young|
Claressa Shields at the premiere of the movie The Fire Inside at the DGA Theater Complex Los Angeles on April 12, 2024.
Claressa Shields at the premiere of the movie The Fire Inside at the DGA Theater Complex Los Angeles on April 12, 2024. | IMAGO / Future Image

Claressa Shields has asserted herself as one of, if not the, very best active female boxers in the sport right now.

Some may try and claim that Katie Taylor is the pound-for-pound best women's boxer in the world, especially on the heels of completing the sweep against Amanda Serrano in their trilogy earlier this month. But Shields' sustained dominance starting from her extraordinary amateur career (which includes two Olympic gold medals) and continuing through her undefeated 16-0 pro career has made it hard to argue that she's not the world's #1 pound-for-pound female.

In fact, if there's anybody Shields can compare her career to, it would be the legendary Floyd Mayweather, if only because he's the most notable boxing champion in the modern era who finished his career with an undefeated record.

Claressa Shields
IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

However, during Shields' July 22 appearance on The Pivot podcast ahead of her July 26 bout against Lani Daniels for the undisputed heavyweight title, Shields made a strong claim about where she and Mayweather are even, which doesn't pertain to their respective pro records.

At one point in the interview, Shields was speaking about how she doesn't care if people dislike her, and that she believes any dislike towards her is the byproduct of her unflappable confidence. This prompted The Pivot co-host Channing Crowder to say, "I think [the hate], it's gender, because nobody can be more confident than Floyd Mayweather. And they don't criticize him."

"Me and him neck and neck," Shields responded with a smile, which got the whole room laughing.

There's no doubt that Shields is extremely confident, which is undoubtedly one of the reasons she has ascended to such heights in her boxing career. It would be interesting to hear Mayweather's take on how Shields' confidence compares to his.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.