Claressa Shields was "sweating bullets" about Ryan Destiny playing her in 'The Fire Inside' biopic: "My boxing cannot be looked at as mediocre"

Claressa Shields recently recalled her initial reaction to Ryan Destiny portraying her in 'The Fire Inside'. The biopic is about Shields and is scheduled to be released in theaters on Christmas Day. The women's boxing star wanted to ensure an accurate portrayal. So, it is understandable why she might have been anxiously awaiting the final product.

The film focuses on 'T-Rex's childhood introduction to boxing and her journey to the 2012 London Olympics. In addition, the film also sheds light on the massive disparity in financial opportunities between Shields and male athletes like Michael Phelps, who also won gold at the same Olympics.

During a special sports roundtable ahead of the film's release, the two-time Olympic gold medal winning boxer reflected on her first conversation with Destiny and the conversations that followed.

Shields told Sportskeeda MMA that she wanted to ensure her boxing skills were properly showcased in the film because she didn't want the portion of the audience unfamiliar with her career to have the wrong impression:

"Me and Ryan [Destiny] spoke over-the-phone...She's like, 'I've never had any physical altercation ever'. And I'm holding the phone like, I'm sweating bullets. And then she was like, 'But, Claressa, I've been training...boxing...watching your videos...I am going to do this'. And hearing her say that gave me a lot of comfort and I chose to trust her....I told [the producers] my boxing cannot be looked at as mediocre, I will not stand for it."

Check out the trailer for Claressa Shields' biopic 'The Fire Inside' below:

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Claressa Shields explains why she didn't want 'Rocky' style boxing in 'The Fire Inside'

In addition to recounting her first conversations with Ryan Destiny, Claressa Shields explained why she stressed that the film not feature 'Rocky' style boxing.

During the aforementioned sports roundtable, Shields mentioned that she was a big fan of Sylvester Stallone's iconic franchise, but wanted the boxing element to be a lot better.

"There are parts in the movie, where I'm like, 'Listen, okay, get this relationship right...but the boxing, this is not 'Rocky'.' I love 'Rocky' movies but the boxing was not that great. I love boxing movies, I thought 'Creed' boxing was a lot better. But I said, 'For 'The Fire Inside', you have the Greatest Woman of All Time. Let's not drop the ball.'"

Check out Claressa Shields' featurette for 'The Fire Inside' below: