Claressa Shields is serious about fighting Keith Thurman in an unconventional intergender boxing match. The women's pound-for-pound queen recently reignited her interest in fighting the 34-fight boxing veteran and called Thurman out on social media.
Interestingly, Thurman accepted her brash callout but expressed his reservations about fighting a woman in the boxing ring. He stated that he'd only fight Shields in a charity event and allow her to wear headgear with smaller gloves.
Responding to his statements, Claressa Shields recently shared a video of her sparring men during training and claimed she never takes it easy against them in the ring.
Fans weren't impressed with the footage and reacted to it in the comments section of the video tweeted by journalist Michael Benson.
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One fan put Claressa Shields on blast and wrote:
"Bro, this is the kind of thing where she just needs to be taught the difference between a male pro boxer and a female one."
Another fan opined:
"With all due respect she’s getting knocked out by any male boxer."
One user wrote:
"Shield is doing too much, Hope it doesn't end up badly for her. Men and Women are not the same."
Another user concurred:
"Keith will knock Claressa clean out lol she wilding."
One fan predicted:
"Boy Keith would turn her a** into origami."
Another fan wrote:
"She would get dropped by any pro male boxer 30-40 lighter than her."
How did Keith Thurman respond to Claressa Shields for her callouts?
Claressa Shields is undoubtedly among the greatest female boxers of all time. The undisputed female light middleweight champion and middleweight champion is also the only boxer, regardless of gender, to hold two undisputed titles in two weight classes simultaneously.
Given her immense stardom in the combat sports world, it's hard for anyone to ignore a callout from Shields. While the two-time Olympian gold medallist has been calling Keith Thurman out for a long time, the former welterweight world champion only recently responded to her challenge.
Taking to Twitter, Claressa Shields confidently predicted that she could outbox Keith Thurman and wrote:
"I'll fight Thurman at 154 [pounds], so serious. All the respect in the world to him too.I just think I can outbox him."
In a recent interview with Sporting News Fights, Thurman responded to her tweet and said:
"Look, I can fight for any charity event, we can raise money and let you try to showcase your skills and talent...I would wear bigger gloves, I would let her wear smaller gloves. I would let her wear headgear too. I don’t really wanna punch a girl in the face."
While the response from the former welterweight world champion was delayed, the possibility of a showdown between these two talented fighters adds excitement to the world of boxing and leaves fans eager to see how this story unfolds.