Well, you can never say never in this sport. For the past couple of years, the prospect of a potential blockbuster clash between female boxing legend Laila Ali and the GWOAT Claressa Shields was nothing more than media fodder fueled by their mutual dislike for one another. However, last week, the late great Muhammad Ali’s daughter changed everything. The 47-year-old, who retired from professional boxing in 2007, gave her approval, during the Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano III fight week, to the Shields fight if she gets around a guaranteed $15-20 million.

And now, the undisputed heavyweight champion, despite being preoccupied with her upcoming title defense against Lani Daniels tonight, has revealed that money is no longer the issue. In a recent interview with TMZ Sports, she stated, “Laila, I’m here with my team. I got some great news for you. We got the $15 million!” And as things are shaping up, fans and experts are already taking sides, with even Khalilah Ali, Muhammad Ali’s former wife, among the earliest to give her prediction.

Bad news for Laila Ali

Khalilah Ali (born Belinda Boyd), who was married to Muhammad Ali between 1967 and 1976, met up with Claressa Shields during the official weigh-ins for her upcoming fight. As she was posing with ‘T-Rex,’ a FightHype interviewer didn’t miss his chance to probe the question. “You were the first one to call for it,” the interviewer stated, asking for the 75-year-old’s prediction. “That’s right. That’s right. I told you. It’s time to come on,” she boasted, validating herself as one of the first who called for the fight even before Claressa Shields secured the whopping purse.

Coming back to the fight prediction, Khalilah predicted it to be an uphill battle for her step-daughter Laila Ali. ” I don’t care how much money, she’s going to get whooped,” she said before walking off.

Expectedly, this simple answer wasn’t satisfying enough, and the interviewer caught up with her again. This time, asking in which round she expects the fight to be over. “I don’t really know, but I say three or four. Three or four. She got to go,” Khalilah Ali stated, doubling down on her earlier prediction. For her, the result is clear. Laila Ali is almost 50 years old and hasn’t competed for almost 2 decades now. No matter how talented she is, a full-blown fight against a 30-year-old Claressa Shields at the peak of her power is too much.

While Khalilah was just stating her feelings, it must be disconcerting to be viewed as such an underdog, especially considering that she retired undefeated. However, this is not the first time. Just a few days ago, Claressa Shields herself mocked the 47-year-old, elevating this rivalry to a new level.

Claressa Shields remains completely unbothered

As soon as the self-proclaimed ‘GWOAT’ acquired the $15 million, she took to her Instagram to take a nasty dig at her potential opponent. “Y’all, listen—somebody on here called me ‘YN-ressa,'” she said, while laughing hysterically at the derogatory nickname given by fans to her.

The 30-year-old acknowledged fans’ disappointment over her calling Ali out. However, she remains unbothered by the trolling. “Hey, you know, there’s a couple of people mad that I called out Laila, and they were like, ‘Laila, you better not come out and fight that ‘YN’ (laughs again). Like, why are y’all so mad at me?” she mused, claiming that if the fight happens, it is not on her.

For those unfamiliar, the Shields-Ali rivalry sparked in 2019 when the 47-year-old proclaimed that no one in present-day boxing could test her. While she never named anyone explicitly, Claressa Shields took it personally, calling her out. So, as far as the Michigan native is concerned, she is not the one who laid down the challenge. For her, it is a matter of protecting her throne and cementing her legacy as truly the best. So, fans can call her as many names as they want, but she won’t back down.

Do you think this fight will happen? And if it does, who is your pick?