Claressa Shields has responded positively to recent quotes from Katie Taylor that indicated she would love to one day challenge her fellow undefeated women's boxing icon, despite the gap in weight classes.
Taylor has made it known that she would like to make as many big-name fights happen as possible before she ends her career, including against the likes of Jessica McCaskill, Cecila Braekhus, Shields herself and even MMA star Cris Cyborg.
If Taylor vs. Shields were to happen today, it would pit the current undisputed lightweight champion against the former undisputed and now unified middleweight champion. The Irish fighter says she could go as high as welterweight to make it happen.However, that is still quite the weight-cut for the American, who hasn't made 147lbsince she was 16 years old.
"I would go to 147lbs for a fight with Katie Taylor,"Shields told Metro.co.uk. "I was willing to go to 147 for a fight against Cecilia Braekhus, and I will still go to 147 to fight Jessica McCaskill. But my thing is, 'If you want me to come to 147, you have to pay me to come to 147'.My highest purse is $350k, so to go down to that weight, I would like to be paid the right way and given a fair shot. I think a lot of these fighters want me to come to 147 and not rehydrate, but that's not good for any fighter.I think a fight between me and her, me not rehydrating back up to 160, is fair because she is coming up from a smaller weight class. But don't say I can't rehydrate past 150lbs. That's unfair. Somewhere from 154-158 would be fair."
Shields cited her past experiences with trying to negotiate with a welterweight and how unjust the expectations were.
"I had discussions with Cecilia Braekhus and her team, but they want no parts of me," Shields said."They were saying, 'Yeah, we'll fight at 147, but you can't rehydrate past 150lbs'. 'I was like, "are y'all crazy?"
"For one, I would still whoop her ass if that happened, but I care about how I perform and displaying my best skill set in every fight.I'm not going to go in there looking all tired and sluggish. I'll still win, but I want to be able to watch my film and think, "I did great."
Shields also believes that whatever happens between her and Taylor in the future, she is already well ahead of Katie in the 'greatest female boxer ever' stakes and can not be caught.
"To me, there is no debate, to be honest,"Shields said."I feel like that is me, period.I have a lot of respect for Katie Taylor, and I feel like it really depends what you like inside the ring. Do you like somebody that moves around, and you like people to have competitive fights?Kind of like the fight between Katie Taylor and Delfine Persoon. You will never see me in a fight that close. But I think some people look at that as a plus and it makes them like a fighter more.
"(People say) 'Oh, she got in a war, she won close fights.'Then you watch me go in there with some of the best fighters, and I make them look average, and even though you can say, 'I'm the better fighter'. But people like to know that fighters have vulnerabilities and I haven't shown any vulnerabilities except the fight against [Hanna] Gabriels.She knocked me down in the first round, but when I got back up, it was all hell to pay for her, and I won a unanimous decision. I think in terms of skills and everything we can do inside the ring that I'm definitely the pound-for-pound greatest woman of all time. But those who say Katie Taylor, I don't get mad, I disagree, but that's just their flavour."
Shields next steps into the boxing ring on March 5 in her hometown of Flint, Michigan, against Canada'sMarie-Eve Dicaire, but will also make her professional MMA debut later in the year.
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