Claressa Shields is ready to kickstart her 2025 on a high note when she faces Danielle Perkins for the women’s undisputed heavyweight championship on February 2 at the Dort Financial Center in her hometown of Flint, Michigan. The most decorated female boxer of all time is ready to make history by becoming the first-ever women’s undisputed heavyweight champion, if she manages to move past Perkins that is. However, it looks like she has something else on her mind as well.

Over the last few weeks, her rivalry with Jake Paul has garnered lots of attention. A few weeks ago, Shields claimed that she could easily defeat The Problem Child’ in a professional match. While the Flint native’s confession sounded solid, she received a lot of criticism from boxing fans. However, in a conversation with ‘USA Today,’ she made it evident that she couldn’t care less about that and is confident in her skills. Not only that, she downplayed the threat of Jake Paul even more and picked Perkins over him in a fight.

Jake Paul needs to level up, says GWOAT

The 15-0 undefeated boxer claimed that everyone who thinks that Jake Paul can beat her is delusional. After everything she has achieved in the sport, the difference in their skills should be evident to everyone. She furthermore claimed every person who gave ‘El Gallo’ an advantage because he is a male boxer is sexist. “People who are against that are just sexist and they don’t know boxing. It’s very strange to me that they think that a YouTuber can beat a woman boxer who has two Olympic gold medals, world titles, and fought as a heavyweight,” declared Shields.

The 29-year-old then claimed that women’s boxing is suffering because of this outdated thinking. Even though Paul holds a significant power advantage over her, she believes can easily outbox him. Not only that, Shields made it evident that she rates Problem Child’s boxing capability quite low, and he needs to train harder before he can get even on her next opponent’s level.

“Jake Paul showed that he has not gotten better with his skills. He needs to train harder and better. And honestly, I think the girl that I’m getting ready to fight against, Danielle Perkins, can beat Jake Paul, too,” declared the two-time Olympic gold medalist.

This back-and-forth has intrigued the fans and everyone is thinking the same thing; is this fight even possible? Let’s take a look.

Claressa Shields may never get her own ‘Battle-of-the-Sexes’

Over the hundred years, boxing has been a sanctioned sport, only one mixed-gender match has happened. On October 9, 1999, Margaret MacGregor took on Loi Chow at Mercer Arena in Seattle, Washington, in a historic ‘Battle-of-the-Sexes’. MacGregor shocked the world by winning the four-round fight via a unanimous decision.

The match sparked debates around gender roles in sports and whether mixed-gender sports should be normalized. However, nothing substantial took place and it still remained the only mixed-gender boxing match ever.

While everyone saw this fight as a huge step forward for women’s boxing. MacGregor simply did it because she had no opponents. “I’m not doing this for women’s liberation. I’m just a good fighter who happens to be a woman,” stated MacGregor before the fight.

Looking back at the fight, Sue Fox, founder of the Women Boxing Archive Network, claimed that a similar fight like that is not possible now. She claimed that while MacGregor had no opponents in the women’s division, Claressa Shields would have no trouble finding one. On the other hand, Jake Paul’s schedule is also filled up for a few years if he decides to take every challenge flung his way. “So, no, I don’t see that happening with Shields,” claimed Fox.

Even the Flint native knows the reality as she has claimed that a fight between her and Jake Paul is not possible despite the interest. What do you think about the Claressa Shields vs. Jake Paul fight? Let us know your thoughts down below.