Detroit ― Claressa Shields was barely an hour removed from her latest in-ring conquest, when a reporter asked her the obvious question: What ― or who ― is next?
Like in her dominating unanimous-decision victory over Franchon Crews-Dezurn on Sunday night at Little Caesars Arena, Shields came out swinging with an answer. She already has two opponents in mind.
“I would like to fight against Shadasia (Green), y’all’s boogey woman. I want to fight against her,” Shields said during her post-fight press conference at LCA, where more than 17,000 fans were in attendance. “And then I would like to have … a fight with Mikaela Mayer at 162, 163.
“I’m looking forward to fighting two more times this year.”
Shields, 30, recently signed the richest deal in women’s pro boxing history, an $8-million, multi-fight, multi-year contract with Wynn Records and Salita Promotions that gives her camp most, if not all, of the power in picking her opponents for the foreseeable future. That’s privilege that comes with being the GWOAT, and the sport’s biggest draw, by far.
Shields, the Flint legend, improved to 18-0 as a professional with the 10-round victory over Crews-Dezurn, in the much-anticipated rematch from both of their first pro fights, back in 2016.
Green, 36, the “Sweet Terminator,” is a super-middleweight champion who is 16-1 as a professional, with 11 knockouts. The New Jersey native’s only loss was to Crews-Dezurn, by unanimous decision, back in 2023.
Mayer, 35, a California native, holds super-welterweight and welterweight championship belts, and was the bronze medalist at the 2016 Olympics, where Shields won her second gold medal. Mayer has a 22-2 record professionally, with five knockouts. Both of those losses have been since 2022, after starting 17-0.
Nothing has been finalized for her next fights, including opponents or dates, though any future fights are likely to take place at LCA, where she’s staged four of her last five bouts (the fifth was in Flint).
Shields, a recently-inducted member of the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, hasn’t fought more than twice in a year since 2018, when she fought four times.
But there might be a really good reason for increasing her workload in 2026. She’s also got big plans for 2027, and plans that don’t involve boxing.
“This is my niece. This is not my child,” Shields said, holding a young girl at her post-fight press conference on Sunday. “But I want to have my owns kids. So, in 2027, I think I want to take the time off and have my own kids.”
Since 2025, Shields has been dating rapper Papoose, who’s also executive head of hip-hop at Wynn Records and has been a constant presence by her side at most public events for the past several months. Papoose, 47, has three children from previous relationships.
Crews-Dezurn, 38, whose record now is 10-3, said she would like to fight two more times in the next year, perhaps at the middleweight or super-middleweight levels.
All clear
Fighter Joe George Jr., of Houston, was released from a Detroit-area hospital late Sunday night after a scary scene in the penultimate fight on the card at LCA, where he collapsed and lay motionless on the canvas for several moments as ring and medical personnel worked on him.
George eventually regained consciousness, to the relief of a stunned-silent crowd, before leaving the arena on a stretcher. He was transported to a local hospital around 10 p.m. Sunday and he underwent an MRI, and doctors gave him a clean bill of health, fight promoters said Monday.
Atif Oberlton, 27, of Philadelphia, won the fight by TKO after just one round, but wasn’t much in a celebratory mood in the ring, or at the post-round press conference.
“I was just like hoping he was OK, because I’ve never seen nothing like that before,” Oberlton said. “Especially once I seen him like start to shake a little bit, I was really concerned for him.
“We all want to go in there, we want to do what we want to do and impose our will on our opponents, but we always want to leave … the same way you came in. You want to go back to your family in one piece.”
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Claressa Shields has two more foes in mind for ’26, and bigger plans for ’27
Reporting by Tony Paul, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
