Boxing champ Claressa Shields eyes battle with Amanda Nunes

UFC President Dana White recently shared his interest in promoting a boxing match between Amanda Nunes, who holds the UFC featherweight and bantamweight titles, and middleweight boxing champ Claressa Shields.

Shields, having heard these comments from White, is all for it. She believes she’d wallop Nunes, but is more than willing to give the Brazilian UFC champion the opportunity.

“I give her full props,” Shields said MMA Tonight on SiriusXM (transcript via MMA Fighting). “In MMA right now, she would beat me at this point. We’re talking about if we fight tomorrow, at this point she would beat me. And at this point if me and her were to fight tomorrow, I would knock her out in a boxing match. That’s just pretty clear but if Dana White wants to have her come over to boxing and try her luck with me, I’m more than willing to meet her at 154 [pounds] and we can fight.

“I think Dana White has a lot of belief in Amanda Nunes and during that interview he didn’t say that I wouldn’t knock her out or he didn’t say that she would beat me, he said that it wouldn’t be a bad fight and it would be interesting,” Shields said. “I’m happy he believes in her [but] I know what I can do in a boxing ring. No disrespect to her but it’s a different game, MMA and boxing.”

The timing of this discussion is certainly opportune, as the dominating Amanda Nunes is suddenly looking very short on viable opponents for fights inside the UFC’s Octagon. Perhaps it’s time she starts looking outside it.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 7/24/2019.