She has long expressed respect for Taylor’s abilities, accomplishments and popularity. No one could convince Shields, though, that Taylor \u2013 or anyone else \u2013 should be ranked above her on women’s boxing’s pound-for-pound list.<\/p>\n
The Ring is among the outlets listing Taylor<\/a> first and Shields<\/a> second in its top 10. Shields contends misguided voters couldn\u2019t logically make that argument based on the results of their fights since both boxers made their pro debuts a week apart in November 2016.<\/p>\n The undefeated five-division champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist maintains their vastly different personalities sway some voters to overlook what Shields considers very obvious evidence that should secure her the top spot.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s a \u2018who you like personally\u2019 contest sometimes,\u201d Shields told The Ring<\/a>. \u201cI think it\u2019s do you like how humble somebody is? I think a lot the judging went outside of the actual boxing inside the ring. I feel like it\u2019s, \u2018Oh, she\u2019s so soft-spoken. She\u2019s so nice. I think she just got married recently.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThey look at stuff like that and I look at the actual boxing inside the ring. Because I don\u2019t think her last two fights with Amanda [Serrano] were too exciting. I\u2019m happy that she won because I\u2019m a fan of Katie. When it comes to me, though, my boxing skills are one of one when it comes to women\u2019s boxing, and I pride myself on that.\u201d<\/p>\n Shields, 30, makes a strong argument.<\/p>\n She has barely lost rounds on her way to becoming undisputed champion in the junior middleweight, middleweight and heavyweight divisions. The Flint, Michigan native \u2013 who faces Franchon Crews-Dezurn<\/a> in a rematch DAZN will stream February 22 from Little Caesars Arena in Detroit \u2013 also has been a unified super middleweight champ.Shields (17-0, 3 KOs) avenged her only loss as a boxer by unanimously outpointing amateur nemesis Savannah Marshall<\/a> in October 2022 at London’s O2 Arena. Her rematch with Marshall (13-2, 10 KOs) was the only remotely competitive fight of her professional career, and she still won seven of 10 rounds on two scorecards in Marshall\u2019s home country (97-93, 97-93, 96-94). <\/p>\n \u201cI try not to get caught up in these lists and awards and stuff like that,\u201d Shields said, \u201cbecause it can distract you from what you wanna do in life. \u2026 I know I\u2019m pound-for-pound number one, no matter what the votes say. I don\u2019t lose rounds, don\u2019t get hit that much, I\u2019m great defensively, I\u2019m strong, I\u2019m fast. I know that I\u2019m a really great fighter.\u201d<\/p>\n Ireland\u2019s Taylor (25-1, 6 KOs) is a great fighter as well.<\/p>\n The 2012 Olympic gold medalist has been undisputed champion at lightweight and junior welterweight. The 39-year-old Taylor\u2019s majority-decision defeat to England\u2019s Chantelle Cameron (21-1, 8 KOs) in their first fight is generally regarded as debatable, but so are her narrow wins over Serrano in their first fight and Delfine Persoon in their initial meeting.<\/p>\n Critics question Shields\u2019 level of opposition compared to Taylor\u2019s, especially since moving to heavyweight, yet there isn\u2019t a fighter Shields avoided in the divisions she cleaned out. Shadasia Green, who beat Marshall by split decision last summer, has long wanted to challenge Shields, but Crews-Dezurn defeated Green by unanimous decision in December 2023.<\/p>\n Regardless, Shields would like to fight Green and Mikaela Mayer later this year.<\/p>\n Las Vegas\u2019 Mayer (22-2, 5 KOs), Shields\u2019 former Olympic teammate, is a three-division champion and ranks third on The Ring\u2019s pound-for-pound list, one spot ahead of Cameron. Green (16-1, 11 KOs), of Paterson, New Jersey, owns the IBF and WBO super middleweight titles.<\/p>\n Even if her 2026 were to consist of wins against Crews-Dezurn (10-2, 2 KOs), Green and Mayer, Shields isn\u2019t sure she would regain top spot on some pound-for-pound lists. She believes she has been mischaracterized as \u201cangry\u201d and \u201chaving a bad attitude,\u201d but insists she simply stands up for herself and won’t be bullied or disrespected the way she was as a kid.<\/p>\n \u201cI think some people have made it their business to make me out as this bad person,\u201d Shields said. \u201cI could say a hundred good things in a interview and one bad thing, they highlight the one bad thing, and been doing that my entire career. \u2026 I guess it comes with the territory, but I feel like I\u2019ve been one hundred-percent targeted, just because I\u2019m not only a black woman, but a successful, accomplished black woman.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople say I\u2019m outspoken, but I only speak when I need to speak up. You don\u2019t see me talking about every bad thing that happens with boxers. Sometimes I just mind my business, but people do come messing with me. That\u2019s when you do hear what I\u2019ve got to say.\u201d<\/p>\n The Final Bell <\/p>\n \u25a0 However DAZN\u2019s hierarchy made it happen, ensuring the soon-to-be-announced showdown between Vergil Ortiz<\/a> and Jaron Ennis<\/a> will stand as one of the streaming service\u2019s most important moves of 2026. Subscribers to its relatively new monthly Ultimate plan ($44.95 in the United States; \u00a324.95 in the UK) need to get legitimate pay-per-view value for their money throughout the year and Ortiz versus Ennis is one of the three best fights that can be made in boxing at this time. No matter how many lawsuits have been filed recently, allowing typical boxing obstacles to prevent it from happening next would\u2019ve been bad for business.\u25a0 Moving Shakur Stevenson (25-0, 11 KOs) from seventh to third on our pound-for-pound list seems fair based on the ease with which he beat Teofimo Lopez<\/a> in the biggest fight of Stevenson\u2019s career last month. Jesse \u201cBam\u201d Rodriguez<\/a>, who dropped from third to fourth despite not fighting since the previous rankings were released, is a great fighter, clearly worthy of a top five spot. Rodriguez (23-0, 16 KOs) doesn\u2019t have a victory over someone like Lopez (22-2, 13 KOs) \u2013 an elite-level opponent in the heart of his physical prime \u2013 on his record, though.\u25a0 Brandon Glanton isn\u2019t the cruiserweight we\u2019d most want to watch Jai Opetaia fight March 8<\/a>. He is at least more threatening, though, than the last two opponents Opetaia knocked out, both of whom were undefeated when they fought. Germany\u2019s Huseyin Cinkara (23-1, 19 KOs), who was knocked out in the eighth round by Australia\u2019s Opetaia on December 6, is 41. Italy\u2019s Claudio Squeo (18-1, 10 KOs), knocked out in the fifth round by Opetaia (29-0, 23 KOs) on June 8, built his resume mostly against opponents with losing records. Atlanta\u2019s Glanton (21-3, 18 KOs) is The Ring\u2019s 10th-ranked contender for Opetaia\u2019s title.<\/p>\n Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"She has long expressed respect for Taylor’s abilities, accomplishments and popularity. 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