Claressa Shields reveals plans to return to the PFL after 2021 upset loss: “I just want to learn”
Female boxing champion Claressa Shields is eyeing a return to the cage.
The boxer has been out of the ring since a unanimous decision win over Savannah Marshall last October. That victory set Shields to 13-0 in her professional career and also earned her the WBO super middleweight championship. Thus, handing her all the titles in the weight class.
She’s now slated to return later this week, facing Maricela Cornejo in Detroit. That fight is a homecoming for Shields, but it might also be her last boxing match for a while. That’s if conversations with the PFL go well, as she revealed on The MMA Hour.
There, Claressa Shields discussed a potential return to the cage. While she’s known for her work in the ring, she did have a brief foray into MMA in 2021. Shields defeated Brittney Elkin by knockout that June, before suffering an upset decision loss against Abigail Montes that October. Since then, she’s been inactive.
However, that inactivity could end later this year. Shields revealed on the show that she’s in talks to return, as she badly wants to improve.
Image via @claressashields on Instagram
“I’m dangerous, whether it’s in a boxing ring or in a cage,” Claressa Shields stated on The MMA Hour. “I would like to do MMA again. We are in talks with the PFL right now, to see what the plan is. But I would like to be given the right amount of time to train and learn the craft of MMA. To have a solid team behind me.”
He continued, “I’ve just been winging it, you know… I just want to learn those arts because I’m far behind the other girls. But my boxing gives me a little lift, but if I can’t be on my feet I have to figure out something else to do. I just want to learn those arts to where I have a better chance at winning.
“I’m not afraid to do MMA, I’ve already done it. I like to win.”
What do you make of these comments? Do you want to see Claressa Shields return to the PFL?
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Claressa Shields
