Claressa Shields admits she is ready to bury the hatchet with Jake Paul, but insists she will ‘beat him in up’ in sparring if not.
The multiple-weight undisputed champion returns to the squared circle on Saturday night for her UK debut on the undercard of Chris Eubank Jr’s grudge match with Liam Williams, live on talkSPORT.
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Boxing Tip - Eubank Jr to win 6/1 or Williams 20/1
Paul, who transitioned from YouTube to boxing just over two years ago, branded Shields a ‘loser’ after she lost in MMA amid their bitter feud.
The Michigan-native insists the genesis of the dispute stems from Paul offering her a place on his undercard – a slot the two-time Olympic Gold medallist was insulted by.
Yet with Paul now helping Amanda Serrano in her boxing career by agreeing a fight with Katie Taylor, Shields insists she would be more than happy to end the rivalry.
However, if peace cannot be achieved, then the self-proclaimed Greatest Woman of All Time (GWOAT) would have no problem ending the matter inside the ring.
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“Congrats to him for doing that [Taylor vs Serrano], but he ain’t apologised to me,” Shields told talkSPORT.
“He called me a loser and he tuned into my MMA fight where I was new in the sport, so tune into my boxing fights and then say all the things that you said.
“For him to try to diminish me by saying I have a split decision loss was very low class of him and that’s where the beef kind of started.
“It shouldn’t have been a beef by me saying that I wouldn’t have fought on his undercard, I’m more accomplished than him in boxing – even though I am a woman – as far as Olympics, world championships, professional titles, history.
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“So I shouldn’t have to fight on the undercard of a Jake Paul fight, that shouldn’t have been something to start beef.
“For him to be that mad that I won’t fight on the undercard of him, then to tune into my MMA fight, and then think he can say things like, ‘Oh she’s a loser and not the GWOAT’.
“You can’t praise Amanda Serrano without praising me; I have just as many accomplishments as she does, but he came at me and started saying all this stupid stuff and not even speaking about boxing.
“The beef can be squashed, but he has to apologise first – that’s it! He can apologise or spar, it’s up to him. I just don’t like the disrespect and I’m not somebody that is just going to settle for it because he is in the media.
Boxing Tip - Get Eubank Jr to win by Decision or TD at 13/8
“I appreciate he is doing a great job for Amanda Serrano and for making the fight happen with Katie, but that still don’t have nothing to do with Claressa Shields. You disrespected me, so what do you do?
“We are grown, if you disrespect someone and you know it, you apologise.”
When asked how the sparring session may unfold, Shields was dismiss of the 25-year-old who has amassed a 5-0 record.
“I beat him up,” she insisted. “I got way better skills than Jake Paul.
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“He’s a man, but I spar against men all the time so it’s not a problem. I will give him six to eight rounds and I will show him that I am far from a loser.
“He’s going to feel like the loser after we spar.”
