Katie Taylor has been boxing for a long time and has seen many big things. One thing she didn't expect was to see Claressa Shields make the move over to MMA.
The Olympic boxer has had two fights so far and has been struggling with the ground game, something normal for a boxer making the transition to MMA. Katie Taylor would much rather see her stick to boxing.
“I definitely didn’t expect that,” Taylor said earlier this month on The MMA Hour when asked about Shields switching over to MMA. “But I thought it was a fantastic challenge for her to take on, because boxing and MMA are two completely different sports. It’s very, very hard for anyone in boxing to cross over, because obviously we have no ground game.
“If anybody got me to the ground, for example, it would be a huge problem for me. I think obviously you always have a puncher’s chance maybe, but it’s a priority — it’s very, very hard to stay on your feet. So I think it was an admirable challenge for her to take on. But I would love for her just to focus on boxing now.”
Katie Taylor still sees plenty of fights for Claressa Shields over in boxing. The Olympian could still have a bright future in the ring.
“There’s a lot of big fights out there for her,” Taylor said.
“The likes of Savannah Marshall, who’s a fantastic world champion fighter, and I think Savannah actually beat her as an amateur fighter, so that is a huge, huge, huge fight for them. It’s probably one of the biggest fights in women’s boxing.”
Currently, Claressa Shields has been managing both her boxing and MMA career. It is expected that she'll be forced to make a decision on which one she wants to continue full-time.
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