Clarissa Shields is on her way to fight the biggest fight of her career on September 10th against Savannah Marshall, but a lot is going on in her life.
Claressa Shields is known as the ‘GWOAT’ of boxing and started her take on MMA, but combat sports are just one part of Shields’ life. Her personal life is another, and she likes to separate them.
During the height of the pandemic two years ago, Shields’ personal life changed for the better in a meteoric way. Love found her when she wasn’t expecting it.
The pandemic has kept Shields out of the ring, and staying active has become difficult. It’s something that most people in the world can relate to.
Most public places, including gyms, have been closed. Boxing bouts were hard to come by, and Shields was out of the ring for a while. She still found ways to train, but it wasn’t the same.
As the isolation began, Shields found themselves out of shape by their standards.
“I was kind of worried about my fitness because I gained weight in quarantine like everyone else,” Shields told FanSided. “I was almost 200 pounds. So it was like, hey, we can’t get to the three numbers, you know, even 200. So I just started going to the gym. It was a black-owned gym. There was a lot going on with The Black Lives Matter issue and everything. So I wanted to go to a black owned gym. And that’s where I went. He’s the owner over there.”
When gyms started opening, Shields made her way to a new location, at the Fitness Gym, where she met owner Tony Richardson.
Watch Clarissa Shields vs Savannah Marshall for the undisputed middleweight title Saturday, September 10, on ESPN
Richardson helped Shields get fit in the gym, but Shields was so focused on work that she didn’t realize the chemistry she had with Richardson at first.
“But we didn’t really think about it in the gym, like when I go to the gym, I train. I work out,” Shields said.
Shields has remained focused on her gym career, but she let her hair down when she went out to the club with a group of friends from the gym, including Richardson. There, she began to see Richardson from a different perspective.
“A month later, I think everyone is like the fitness staff, we all went to this club,” Shields recalls. “And we were all like, ‘I kicked everyone a** in pool because I played pool really well. And we were on a team. That’s when we found out it was like a connection or something in there, but we were friends at first.”
Not many people discover the beginnings of love during a game of pool, but love usually happens when we least expect it. Shields and Richardson became an official item on July 24, 2020.
Shields and Richardson recently celebrated their second anniversary, but she’s proud to call him her fiancé today.
Richardson still works with Shields from time to time, but Shields likes to keep her career and love life somewhat separate.
“He gives me a workout, and he knows the body so well,” Shields said. “And it gives me exercises and stuff, so we can kind of like, mingle in there, but it’s really like, we’re trying to make it separate, but they kind of go together.”
Shields told FanSided that she and Richardson are looking to marry sometime in the beginning of 2024, but boxing is her immediate priority, specifically Savannah Marshall.
clash Saturday 10 September At the O2 Arena, in London, England. Marshall has the advantage of being native from Hartlepool, England, but Shields doesn’t seem too concerned about that.
Shields thinks she doesn’t have to worry about falling victim to a decision in her hometown because she’s convinced Marshall won’t see the last bell.
“I’m going to pick it up because it has a lot of flaws,” Shields said. “And she doesn’t respect my strength. So when you don’t respect someone’s authority, you don’t really care. But she does so much in her game that it will injure her and hit her with a big shot. So this fight already clicked for this fight won’t last 10 rounds. It’s going to be a hit.” a judge.”
As for plans after the Marshall fight, Shields expects to refocus on MMA. Shields is signed to the PFL and is 1-1 as an emerging MMA fighter, but expect to see her in the cage before the end of 2022.
“Yeah, I’ll be in the PFL next year. Well, the NFL season,” Shields said. “I have an MMA fight at the end of the year. That’s why this September fight, was really a hit with me because I want to spend that time getting ready for my MMA fight by the end of the year.”
Shields have a clear plan for where you want to be as a combat sports athlete, but having the love and support from Richardson can only help. Life is a balancing act for everyone, but it seems that Shields has figured it out as she continues to make history in the boxing ring and MMA cage.
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