‘This is history’ – Claressa Shields explains how Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano have inspired her while assessing Jake Paul’s role in fight for the ages

Claressa Shields will have a front row seat when Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano change the sport of boxing tonight.

The 27-year-old, one of the most decorated names in the game, will be ringside at Madison Square Garden to watch history unfold as the undisputed lightweight queen Taylor puts her titles on the line against seven-weight world champion Serrano. With the legendary Madison Square Garden playing host, it is quite simply the biggest fight in the history of women’s boxing.

Shields is perhaps the one fighter out there who can dispute the claim that Taylor vs Serrano pits the no1 and no2 pound-for-pound best in women’s boxing against each other – with the American taking that second spot in the esteemed Ring Magazine rankings.

She has already carved her own legacy in the sport, winning two Olympic gold medals before becoming the quickest fighter in history to become champion in three different weight divisions, ruling two of them as undisputed. A fight on the same stratosphere as Saturday’s historic showdown in New York is also looming large for her this summer for all the middleweight gold against Savannah Marshall, her old foe from their amateur days who she is determined to silence.

For much of her amateur and professional career, Shields has been chasing down records of her own. On that journey, Taylor and Serrano have both served as inspirational figures in their own ways.

‘This fight is raising the bar for women’s boxing and women’s sport. I’m just happy I’m on the right side of history of being here in the sport at this time,’ Shields told Metro.co.uk in an exclusive interview.

‘I am a pioneer in the sport myself. But with Katie, she was part of the reason why I even attempted to go for that second Olympic gold