Claressa Shields likely to box again in January or February

On Friday, two of the world’s best female fighters, Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, boxed live on Netflix in a 10-round super lightweight fight watched in a reported 50 million homes. This made Taylor and Serrano the two most-watched female fighters to have ever entered a boxing ring and had many people calling the fight a breakout moment for the sport; a sign of its health. 

As for the world’s best female fighter, that remains up for debate. However, Claressa Shields, 15-0 (3), will refuse to give up that title anytime soon, if indeed it is hers to hold. She, for now, is the self-anointed GWOAT (Greatest Woman of All Time) and has, in the space of just 15 fights, managed to win world titles in four weight classes, beating the likes of Christina Hammer, Savannah Marshall and Hanna Gabriels along the way. 

Her last title win came in July, when she stopped Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse inside two rounds at a weight of 175lbs (light heavyweight). It is not yet known whether Shields will continue at that weight, or return to middleweight or somewhere in between, but the 29-year-old is determined all the same to make a fast start in 2025. 

“I think she’ll fight again in January or February,” Shields’ promoter, Dmitriy Salita, told BoxingScene. “The only reason she didn’t fight again this year, after the July fight, is because she was busy with the movie. Her movie is coming out December 25th in theatres in the United States and that took up a lot of her time. It should be good, though. She has a great story to tell.”

The film in question, The Fire Inside, documents Shields’ compelling life story and was written by esteemed writer/director Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) and directed by Rachel Morrison, a renowned cinematographer. Should it take off, the film could do for Shields what fighting on a Jake Paul undercard has done for some of her pound-for-pound rivals.