Claressa Shields says she’s the undisputed GOAT of women’s boxing ahead of UK debut

US boxing star Claressa Shields has stressed that she is the greatest female fighter of all time and has squashed any argument on the contrary. 

Shields is a two-time Olympic gold medallist, a three-time world champion and is the first boxer in history to be an undisputed champion in two different weight categories. 

The 26-year-old is undefeated in 11 professional fights and will defend her middleweight titles against Ema Kozin in Cardiff at the Motorpoint Arena on Saturday. 

This will be the first time Shields has fought in the UK, having signed a deal with promotional company BOXXER. 

Shields considers herself to be the best women’s boxer of all time, but the American is not satisfied with people calling her the ‘self-proclaimed GWOAT.’ 

Speaking to BBC Sport ahead of this weekend’s fight, she said: “When people say ‘self-proclaimed’ that’s narcissistic, which I’m not. 

“My accomplishments, performances, skills and history-making – that’s why I’m the GWOAT. Fact.”

The Michigan born fighter’s extreme confidence is often mistaken as arrogance, yet Shields believes all boxers should praise themselves when they are victorious. 

“You guys like the Anthony Joshua attitude more than you like the Tyson Fury attitude. 

“We have to beat ourselves up when we lose so why not uplift ourselves we win.”

If Shields does beat Kozin on Saturday, it may set up a mouth-watering super fight between herself and WBO champion Savannah Marshall. 

The Brit is the only fighter to ever defeat Shields at amateur level and the pair have been involved in a war of words ever since. 

Marshall won the world title vacated by Shields in October 2020 and the tensions between the two are only continuing to grow. 

“I’ve seen Savannah in person a couple of