Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard
Last week Heavy’s Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson reported that WBC and WBO junior middleweight championship Claressa Shields issued a challenge of $10 million bout against Laila Ali.
Per Robinson Shields shared with him via text that Ali can’t kick your ass.
“Ain’t no thinking I know,” said Shields.
“Her skills were not there. She may be undefeated, but look at the girls she boxed against. Soccer moms. I’m no soccer mom. She would have my respect, but she ducked Anne Wolfe, and now she’s hating on me because I’m a better fighter than her.”
Shields then told me all she wants to do is step in the ring with Ali. “Loser gets $5 million,” shared Shields.
“And the winner gets $10 million. Make it happen!”
Shields’ comments were in response to Ali’s recent appearance on Sway in the Morning show. As a part of her promotional run for Home Made Simple on the OWN Network, she is he the daughter of Mummahad Ali.
“First of all, she could never beat me,” she shared with Sway Calloway.
“Let me get that really straight right now. Not simply because she’s not strong enough, because I would definitely knock her out because she’s not talented enough.”
Ali didn’t stop there. : “You’re talented.”
“You can box. You can throw those hard punches. But there’s a sweet science to boxing. The reason you have not been able to knock out the opponents that you have faced, I can totally see it.”
Ali was also on The Ak & Barak show, and the 42-year-old retired boxer shared that not everything is about Claressa Shields. Per World Boxing News, “One thing Claressa [Shields] needs to understand, it’s not always about her, OK?”
“Who inspires me to come out of retirement at 42? – Do you have $5 million for me, do you have $10 million for me? “Cause it’s going to take at least that to come to get me.
“You know what I’d have to do to come back for a fight? – I don’t care who it is, cause I’m gonna win regardless. “I’m gonna knock you out. Period. So for me, it really comes down to me being in shape. That’s the only way I would lose – if I was not in shape. “So for me to stop everything I’m doing, OK. To take time away from my family. My kids being like, ‘Mom, you not going to do this’ – My husband not agreeing with it. “The training, the focus. Everything it would take. Now, who is there? – Nobody. “If I wanted to, of course, I could.”
“One thing Claressa [Shields] needs to understand, it’s not always about her, OK?” — @TheRealLailaAli responds to Claressa Shields’ issues with her and discusses what it would take for a potential comeback.
Full interview: t.co/oxhFouOW1G
Damian Lillard Weighs-in on the Potential Fight
After the Blazers lost to the Dallas Mavericks 120-112, Blazers guard Damian Lillard shared his thoughts on the potential fight between Ali and Shields.
“I think they should do it, Claressa Shields is calling herself the greatest woman of all time before that it was Laila Ali. She retired an undefeated fighter, she is Muhammad Ali’s daughter, and they are two African American Women who dominated the sport and currently dominating the sport,” Lillard told Fanatics View.
“So, why not? I think it would be a big draw and it would be great for them to be compensated that way. Women’s boxing doesn’t have the same opportunities as men, similar to the WNBA and NBA. So, I think it would be a great thing for women’s boxing and a great thing for both of them. In the end, it would be a great way to settle that. Laila Ali is much older, and out of her prime, why not?”
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Blazers Damian Lillard Sounds off on Potential Fight Between Laila Ali & Claressa Shields