Undefeated pound-for-pound queen Claressa Shields has cleaned out all the fighters on and around her division and will head north once again to face WBC heavyweight champion Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on July 27.
The 10-round bout, plus undercard action, will air on DAZN.
In many ways, Shields (14-0) has Roy Jones Jr. syndrome. In his heyday, Jones was so superior to the competition that he had to make challenges for himself. As the light heavyweight champion and pound-for-pound king, Jones moved up and captured the WBA heavyweight crown in 2003.
It's that very goal that motivates the GWOAT.
"Hearing, 'And now, the heavyweight champion of the world… Claressa Shields' has never been something I've thought about. It's not something I ever dreamed of," Shields said in an exclusive interview with The Sporting News. "When this opportunity came, and these heavyweight girls were saying I was afraid of them, it was like, 'Oh, we gotta take this opportunity!'
"Even though I'm coming up two weight classes, and these girls are bigger, they're stronger, they're world champions… I still have enough in me to beat them. We're going for our fourth division, and I can't wait to see how hard these heavyweight girls hit. And I hope they hit harder than Savannah [Marshall] because if they don't, it's going to be a long night for them."
WATCH: Claressa Shields vs. Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse live on DAZN
Shields has won undisputed at super welterweight, undisputed twice at middleweight and a pair of titles at super middleweight. The highest she's ever weighed in for a fight is 167 pounds, and she's made the middleweight limit of 160 for the past six years.
However, this latest step up in weight is more than a touch confusing. While the WBC have sanctioned the bout for their heavyweight title, the limit is 175 pounds and the vacant WBO light heavyweight title will also be on the line. Lepage-Joanisse made 175 for her title-winning effort against Abril Argentina Vidal in March.
"The WBO call it the light heavy, the WBC call it the heavyweight… I really have no idea," admitted Shields with a touch of frustration.
"The confusion is the inequality between women's and men's boxing once again. I'm going to come in at 168-170 pounds; she's going to come in at 175 because that's the weight. The WBC is calling it the heavyweight division; it's 175+.
"I'm just as confused as you. I'll be under 175. I don't care what she weighs in at. She can come in at 180, 190, 200, that's not my problem. It's just that we're fighting for the heavyweight title and that's it."
It's conceivable that the WBC has gone straight to heavyweight because the number of females competing above 175 will be so few. The heavyweight division just sounds better and has more prestige than light heavyweight. Does Shields believe that the higher weight classes can take off in women's boxing?
"Yeah, I can see it in years to come," said the champion. "There's a girl named Danielle Perkins and she's 6-2 and built like Evander Holyfield. She's not a fat heavyweight. She's a big, tall, strong heavyweight, for a woman. So, I do see it becoming something, but in any sport, when you're smaller, and you can move around faster, and you're more athletic, people will say it's more entertaining.
"Even though I'm at a higher class and fight at 160 and 168, that's why I'm considered the pound-for-pound number one woman, because I have just as much skill. I'm just as athletic as the girls in the lower weight classes — the 130s, the 135s — I fight with just as much skill, athleticism and power as them."
MORE: Top 12 best pound-for-pound fighters in women's boxing
While I was speaking with Shields, I remembered that this is an Olympic year, and we're on the cusp of the Games commencing in Paris. Shields made history for the USA by becoming the country's first-ever double Olympic Champion (2012 and 2016) but is the only gold medalist the USA has had since 2004 (Andre Ward).
"A lot of these amateur guys in the U.S. see professional boxing being more lucrative than the Olympics," offered Shields when asked why Team USA's performance level has dropped. "In some countries when you win the Olympics, male or female, some countries will give you a house and a car and take care of you for life. Here in the USA, you can win a gold medal (Shields shows medal one), you can win two gold medals (Shields shows medal two), and you still have to fight for your right to be recognized, fight for sponsorships, fight for money.
"We have great talent here in America. A gold medal will change [an Olympian's] life a little bit, but it won't change it drastically. I think that makes those guys not go as hard as they should go in the Olympics. It's very hard to do, and coming up short by a little bit may sting, but coming out on top and getting nothing for it is probably a worse feeling, I think."
The thrill of victory is what Shields is accustomed to feeling, and she'll be hoping to have that feeling once again on July 27.
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