Eddie Hearn wants to make Laila Ali vs. Claressa Shields, but...

[Stuarty]

Shields is a fuckin arsehole! Absolute scrotum of a woman!

[ewenhay]

Eddie Hearn should concentrate on matchups that actually interest fans of boxing.

Eddie Hearn doesn't care about boxing. Or boxing fans.

The only thing he cares about is Eddie Hearn making money.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Laila Ali Demanded $5 Million For Claressa Shields Fight



If it doesn’t make dollars, it doesn’t make sense for Laila Ali to come out of retirement and face Claressa Shields.

According to Shields (10-0, 2 KOs), the three-division champion and two-time US gold medalist, the 43-year-old Ali (24-0, 21 KOs) is asking for a pretty penny to put on a pair of gloves again.

“If you want to fight, let’s fight. She had all these money demands of $5 million out of the gate when no woman has ever made that much money in women’s boxing. Nobody thinks $5 million is even reasonable because we are women fighters. She’s only made $600,000 as her [highest earning purse in her career] in 21 fights. I’m making $400,000 in my next fight, in just 10 fights,” Shields told Boxing Scene in an interview.

Shields believes the earnings should be split 60/40 in favor of her, but she’s willing to go 50/50 just to not give Ali another reason to say “no” to the fight. Shields made $300,000 in her last fight, a unanimous decision win against Ivana Habazin in January.

She believes a pay per view fight with Ali would net nearly 900,000 buys.

“Then [Ali] says ‘I need a year [to train], I need to make sure my kids have a babysitter for a year,’ and all these other crazy stuff. There are a hundred ways to say ‘no’ and one way to say ‘yes.’ That’s all I’ll say to that,” said Shields.

“But me being fair, and wanting to get the fight made, all she has to do is make an official un-retirement statement and then give us a date for when she’s going to be ready to fight. And then all we have to do is promote, promote, promote, and then we can get in the ring and fight.”

The 25-year-old Shields, who hails from Flint, Michigan, said she’s “kind of over it” in potentially fighting Ali after initial conversations have fizzled since Ali first entertained the idea of fighting Shields in February.

“Do I want to fight her and beat her? Yes. If the fight doesn’t happen, am I going to be mad about it or sad that my career is worth anything? No,” said Shields. “She thinks she’s a bigger name than I am in boxing. She’s not … I’m going to make $1 million with or without Laila Ali. Trust me. The last name Shields can do it.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

She wants to fight the name Ali.. They gonna have to pay for it.

Fight was never gonna happen. Was never gonna do 900k buys..

Don't know why Shields is still talking about it.

Looks like it's a coffin nailed shut now.

[Thomastearns]

Shields is a fuckin arsehole! Absolute scrotum of a woman!

Yes, now resorting to fighting long retired women 17 years her senior.

Sure the money's good, but Laila doesn't need this stink - and yes Hearn should be ashamed. Publicity stunt or not, it's a new low.

[gilgamesh]

If Laila has to be paid $5 Million I can't imagine there'd be any profit in the matchup therefore no reason to do it.

[gilgamesh]

Shields is a fuckin arsehole! Absolute scrotum of a woman!

Yes, now resorting to fighting long retired women 17 years her senior.

Sure the money's good, but Laila doesn't need this stink - and yes Hearn should be ashamed. Publicity stunt or not, it's a new low.

I mean normally I'd give a fighter sh*t for wanting a piece of a long retired big name, but in the case of Shields I get it because Women's Boxing basically has no names for her to fight.

Laila Ali would be the most significant person she could fight. In the here and now the only other notable fight out there for her is Cecilia Braekhus if Braekhus comes up to 154 or something.

Other than that. There's literally nobody else to fight that would mean a goddamn thing. She'd just be racking up title defenses against a bunch of no hopers while very few people cared.

[lazboy]

Laila is 5'10 and weighed 168 in her last fight. Shields is 5'8 and weighed 152 her last fight.

It's not hard to see who will win. Laila is too big and strong for Shields, just like Andy Ruiz is to big and strong for Sonny Liston. Size matters.

[margaret thatcher]

R u calling Princess Laila an obese Mexican man

Well, at least she'd have bigger bewbs

[lazboy]

R u calling Princess Laila an obese Mexican man

Well, at least she'd have bigger bewbs

mmmm bewwwbbbsss

[gilgamesh]

Laila is 5'10 and weighed 168 in her last fight. Shields is 5'8 and weighed 152 her last fight.

It's not hard to see who will win. Laila is too big and strong for Shields, just like Andy Ruiz is to big and strong for Sonny Liston. Size matters.

Claressa's 1st title was won at 168 pounds.

I assume you're trolling though.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Claressa Shields: Laila Ali Should Stick To Cooking, She Doesn't Love Boxing

Claressa Shields is pound for pound the best women’s fighter in the world, and equally the best trash talker outside of it.

Shields (10-0, 2 KOs), the three-division champion and two-time US gold medalist, is trying to convince former female boxing queen Laila Ali (24-0, 21 KOs) to come out of retirement for one last hoorah.

In doing so, she’s trying to play some mind games, much like Ali’s legendary father Muhammad Ali once did in his heyday.

“You can tell when a person doesn’t love boxing. She can get on camera and say, ‘boxing is her first love’ all she wants to. It’s a myth. If boxing was her first, she would attend other boxing matches. [Ali] would be looking at other fighters. [She] wouldn’t be retiring at the age of 29 and saying ‘there weren’t any women for her to fight,’” Shields told BS.com in an interview.

“There are women who say they’ve called Laila Ali out for a fight and she didn’t answer. It’s more than ducking Anne Wolfe. It’s Latisha Robinson, and a lot of girls. Nobody ever questioned her legacy and if she fought everybody. To me, that’s insane. Boxing is not her first love. Cooking is. That’s what she does, that’s what she likes to do, and that’s what she should stick to doing.”

The 25-year-old Shields, who hails from Flint, Michigan, wants to roast Ali in the ring with a highlight-worthy knockout and create her own iconic moment.

“I dream to get a knockout [of Ali] like Ann Wolfe did to Vonda Ward in 2004,” said Shields. “It’s the biggest knockout in women’s boxing. I’m going to train my ass off to knockout Laila Lai like Wolfe to Ward.”

The last time Ali was in the ring was 2007, when Shields was a 12-year-old upstart and years away from achieving her Olympic dreams.

“All of my fights have been one-sided beatings, no matter who the opponent is. I fight everybody. I am a great fighter. I am the best women’s fighter, ever. The GWOAT. [Ali] is going to come in there and stand her ground, and she’s going to show that she’s an Ali. I’m going to whoop her ass — every round,” said Shields.

“I just say what’s on my mind. It’s not that I’m even trying to get to my opponent. I do like to try and read them and get a reaction out of them. That’s just how you play mind games. I learned that from the great Muhammad Ali.”

[lazboy]

Her personality stinks and the trash taking is tiresome. Surely we’ve had enough Conor McGregors and Adrien Broners of the world.