Claressa Shields has had a rocky relationship with Amanda Serrano. What was earlier an amicable relationship has turned sour in recent years. The tension between the two has often spilled onto social media, most notably after Jake Paul owned Most Valuable Promotions’ co-founder Nakisa Bidarian floated the idea of a bout between Shields and Alycia Baumgardner. Their rivalry also intensified over a dispute regarding the use of the nickname ‘GWOAT’ (Greatest Woman of All Time), which both fighters have claimed. Now, however, boxing’s sole three-weight undisputed champion appears to have taken things a step further.
Amanda Serrano is slated to lock horns with rival undisputed super lightweight champion Katie Taylor for a third fight at Madison Square Garden in New York on 11th July. Despite losing the past two fights via close margins, Serrano has maintained that she won those fights and would attempt to get the decision in her favor this time around. However, Serrano’s former friend Claressa Shields believes that’s never going to happen.
While appearing in an interview with Fight Hub TV recently, the undefeated two-time Olympic gold medalist didn’t hold back her thoughts about the Amanda Serrano, their beef, and the upcoming fight. “I think Katie will win again,” Claressa Shields told Marcos Villegas. “Amanda has some underlying issues with me, and saying that I downplay her career or whatever she’s talking about.”
However, the self-proclaimed GWOAT questioned how she could have downplayed Serrano since the latter is a seven-division world champion, and Shields has attended many of her fights to support her. “I was supporting women’s boxing way before MVP or Jake Paul or anybody even came around,” Shields said. Regardless of her issues with Serrano, Shields shared her thoughts on who the better boxer is.
California December 6 2018 Los Angeles press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz Claressa Shields Los Angeles California USA Copyright: xTomxHoganx Best13941_Hoganphotos
“What I will say is, from my knowledge, Katie Taylor is the better fighter,” Shields continued. She added that Serrano can beat Taylor, but she won’t be able to because “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Shields explained that Serrano is stuck in her ways and continues to make the same mistakes she made in her last two fights against Taylor.
“I think that not only is she stuck in her ways, but her coaches are stuck in their ways, too. So, if they feel that they won the fights, that’s good. But the judges don’t think you won either fight,” Shields said, giving a dose of reality check. She claimed Serrano should consider why the judges gave the two fights to Taylor and work on improving those aspects in her game. “But I don’t think that she’s mentally capable of doing that,” Shields said.
Nevertheless, things are seemingly heating up between Serrano and Taylor as well.
Katie Taylor hits back at Amanda Serrano for attempts at a rule change
In April, Taylor hit back at Amanda Serrano’s push for longer rounds in their third fight, dismissing the attempt to alter the rules. Serrano has long been vocal about having 12 three-minute rounds in her fights like the men, but Taylor isn’t convinced she wants to move forward with it.
Katie Taylor vs Chantelle Cameron, 3 Arena, Dublin 20/5/2023 Undisputed Super Lightweight Championship Katie Taylor dejected after the fight Katie Taylor dejected after the fight 20/5/2023 PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxUKxIRLxFRAxNZL Copyright: x INPHO/GaryxCarrx JACK1446
“At the end of the day, Amanda needs this fight a lot more than I do,” Taylor said during a press conference. “I have a long history of big fights against big names, and a line of people queuing up to fight me for the payday.” This prompted Serrano to accuse Taylor of backing out of a handshake agreement.
To this, Taylor responded, stating, “The point of a three-minute round was to prove you’d get more knockouts. How many knockouts did you get in your 12 three-minute rounds? Zero.” Taylor was referring to Serrano’s fight against Danila Ramos in 2023, which had 12 two-minute rounds.
Having said that, it appears Claressa Shields doesn’t believe Amanda Serrano could beat Katie Taylor in their third fight. She also doesn’t seem to be a big fan of Serrano, whom she claims to have supported in the past. Do you agree with Shields?
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