A tearful  admitted she felt her arm nearly snap in Saturday’s  mixed-martial victory victory in Saudi Arabia.

The undefeated boxer and two-time Olympic gold medalist was moonlighting in the cage once again, where she grinded out a split-decision win over Kelsey  to improve to 2-1 as an MMA lightweight.

‘I almost got my arm snapped in a freaking armbar,’ Shields said in her post-fight interview. ‘I had to fight out of that.’

Shields, who also battled a severe cramp, became emotional when describing the difficult transition to MMA.

‘It’s not easy what I’m trying to do and I’ve been so respectful of the sport,’ she said. ‘I put a lot of hard work in, I’m going to go back to the gym and work harder.

Thursday, July 25

, 4:00 am ET, Justis Huni vs Troy Pilcher. Heavyweight prospect Huni headlines in Fortitude Valley, which is in Queensland, which is in Australia, which is where he’s from. Matchroom’s Australia dream isn’t dead yet!

Saturday, July 27

 2:00 pm ET, Joe Joyce vs Derek Chisora. Also airing on TNT Sports in the UK. Could be a slugfest, could be a slog. Seems an admission from within that Joyce is not going to be a serious contender again. Chisora’s lost four of six but those losses were to Usyk, Parker (twice), and Fury, so, like, three of the current top four heavyweights in the world. He’s not good at this point, but he tends to grind out wins when the opponent isn’t elite. BLH will have live updates.

 9:00 pm ET, Claressa Shields vs Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse. Shields is out of things to do in boxing because she’s beaten everyone there is to beat. In this one, she fights for a “heavyweight title” and a “light heavyweight title,” two divisions that functionally do not exist in women’s boxing. Shields hasn’t stopped anyone in seven years but I’m sure the promise of the elusive TKO will be part of the pre-fight talk. The undercard is pretty dull on paper, but Shields sells tickets in Detroit, they aren’t going to spend money on the rest of the show. BLH will have live updates.

Undefeated pound-for-pound queen  has cleaned out all the fighters on and around her division and will head north once again to face WBC heavyweight champion  at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on July 27.

The 10-round bout, plus undercard action,

In many ways, Shields (14-0) has Roy Jones Jr. syndrome. In his heyday, Jones was so superior to the competition that he had to make challenges for himself. As the light heavyweight champion and pound-for-pound king, Jones moved up and captured the WBA heavyweight crown in 2003.

It’s that very goal that motivates the GWOAT.

“Hearing, ‘And now, the heavyweight champion of the world… Claressa Shields’ has never been something I’ve thought about. It’s not something I ever dreamed of,” Shields said in an exclusive interview with The Sporting News. “When this opportunity came, and these heavyweight girls were saying I was afraid of them, it was like, ‘Oh, we gotta take this opportunity!’

“Even though I’m coming up two weight classes, and these girls are bigger, they’re stronger, they’re world champions… I still have enough in me to beat them. We’re going for our fourth division, and I can’t wait to see how hard these heavyweight girls hit. And I hope they hit harder than Savannah [Marshall] because if they don’t, it’s going to be a long night for them.”

WATCH:  Shields has won undisputed at super welterweight, undisputed twice at middleweight and a pair of titles at super middleweight. The highest she’s ever weighed in for a fight is 167 pounds, and she’s made the middleweight limit of 160 for the past six years.

However, this latest step up in weight is more than a touch confusing. While the WBC have sanctioned the bout for their heavyweight title, the limit is 175 pounds and the vacant WBO light heavyweight title will also be on the line. Lepage-Joanisse made 175 for her title-winning effort against Abril Argentina Vidal in March.

“The WBO call it the light heavy, the WBC call it the heavyweight… I really have no idea,” admitted Shields with a touch of frustration.

“The confusion is the inequality between women’s and men’s boxing once again. I’m going to come in at 168-170 pounds; she’s going to come in at 175 because that’s the weight. The WBC is calling it the heavyweight division; it’s 175+.

“I’m just as confused as you. I’ll be under 175. I don’t care what she weighs in at. She can come in at 180, 190, 200, that’s not my problem. It’s just that we’re fighting for the heavyweight title and that’s it.”

It’s conceivable that the WBC has gone straight to heavyweight because the number of females competing above 175 will be so few. The heavyweight division just sounds better and has more prestige than light heavyweight. Does Shields believe that the higher weight classes can take off in women’s boxing?

“Yeah, I can see it in years to come,” said the champion. “There’s a girl named Danielle Perkins and she’s 6-2 and built like Evander Holyfield. She’s not a fat heavyweight. She’s a big, tall, strong heavyweight, for a woman. So, I do see it becoming something, but in any sport, when you’re smaller, and you can move around faster, and you’re more athletic, people will say it’s more entertaining.

“Even though I’m at a higher class and fight at 160 and 168, that’s why I’m considered the pound-for-pound number one woman, because I have just as much skill. I’m just as athletic as the girls in the lower weight classes — the 130s, the 135s — I fight with just as much skill, athleticism and power as them.”

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While I was speaking with Shields, I remembered that this is an Olympic year, and we’re on the cusp of the Games commencing in Paris. Shields made history for the USA by becoming the country’s first-ever double Olympic Champion (2012 and 2016) but is the only gold medalist the USA has had since 2004 (Andre Ward).

“A lot of these amateur guys in the U.S. see professional boxing being more lucrative than the Olympics,” offered Shields when asked why Team USA’s performance level has dropped. “In some countries when you win the Olympics, male or female, some countries will give you a house and a car and take care of you for life. Here in the USA, you can win a gold medal (Shields shows medal one), you can win two gold medals (Shields shows medal two), and you still have to fight for your right to be recognized, fight for sponsorships, fight for money.

“We have great talent here in America. A gold medal will change [an Olympian’s] life a little bit, but it won’t change it drastically. I think that makes those guys not go as hard as they should go in the Olympics. It’s very hard to do, and coming up short by a little bit may sting, but coming out on top and getting nothing for it is probably a worse feeling, I think.”

The thrill of victory is what Shields is accustomed to feeling, and she’ll be hoping to have that feeling once again on July 27.

One wouldn’t have to look any further than her nickname — the “GWOAT” (Greatest Woman of All Time) — to know where Claressa Shields believes she belongs in women’s boxing history.

But as the buildup continues toward Shields challenging WBC heavyweight world champion Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse this weekend, live on DAZN, the 29-year-old also believes that she’s sharing the spotlight at the top.

During an exclusive interview with DAZN News, Shields named her Mount Rushmore of current great women’s boxers, building stellar company around her.

“Right now, if there’s a Mount Rushmore of women’s boxers, I would say it’s myself, Katie Taylor, Amanda Serrano and maybe Mikaela Mayer,” Shields offered.

“You can even add Savannah Marshall,” she tacked on.

Despite each of the aforementioned boxers having held multiple world titles, Shields also believes that herself, Taylor, Serrano and Mayer stand out for their respective energized fan

followings. As does Marshall.

“They have their own fan base, fans come out to see them,” Shields said, “and we all kind of get behind each other and support each other here and there.”

Claressa Shields, the current women’s IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO world middleweight boxing champion, is currently threatening legal action against fans and networks after a video surfaced showing her being dropped in training by Arturs Ahmetovs, a retired male professional boxer with a record of 6-1-0.

yan Garcia has resumed his bizarre behavior, but this time, the controversial fighter seems to have taken things to the next level by proposing to boxer Claressa Shields that they have a baby, despite the fact that she is engaged.

While Garcia is embroiled in the scandal of testing positive for drug tests twice during his fight against Devin Haney, and has requested a B sample test, scheduled for May 22, Garcia made the bold proposal to Shields, who is engaged to boyfriend Tony Rich.

Since his fight against Haney was announced, Garcia has been linked to numerous women, some famous and some relatively unknown; however, each date seemed aimed at the purpose of gaining Shields’ attention.

In a post on the X-platform, Claressa Shields shared a screenshot of her text message exchange with Randy said, “Boy oh boy! I run 6 miles, do 100 ab wheel rollers, train my SCOC boxing kids….then I wake up to s*** like this @RyanGarcia and all I’m doing is minding my business.”

Meanwhile, in text messages, Garcia appears to have made the initiative, saying, “If we had a baby, the baby would be superhuman.” To this, Shields maintained her polite demeanor and responded, “You need help Ryan,” referencing Ryan’s erratic behavior.

But, of course, ‘The Flash’ wasn’t about to let up, as he continued his string of messages.

While Garcia is embroiled in the scandal of testing positive for drug tests twice during his fight against Devin Haney, and has requested a B sample test, scheduled for May 22, Garcia made the bold proposal to Shields, who is engaged to boyfriend Tony Rich.

Since his fight against Haney was announced, Garcia has been linked to numerous women, some famous and some relatively unknown; however, each date seemed aimed at the purpose of gaining Shields’ attention.

In a post on the X-platform, Claressa Shields shared a screenshot of her text message exchange with Randy said, “Boy oh boy! I run 6 miles, do 100 ab wheel rollers, train my SCOC boxing kids….then I wake up to s*** like this @RyanGarcia and all I’m doing is minding my business.”

Meanwhile, in text messages, Garcia appears to have made the initiative, saying, “If we had a baby, the baby would be superhuman.” To this, Shields maintained her polite demeanor and responded, “You need help Ryan,” referencing Ryan’s erratic behavior.

Ryan Garcia says goodbye to his children in emotional video before entering rehab

Garcia has accustomed his fans to generating controversy by criticizing his opponents and displaying erratic behavior on his social media, expressing a barrage of confusing and offensive ideas to many. Now, he has surprised everyone with a unique and special moment with his young children before undergoing a rehabilitation process to recover his mental and physical healis looking for the path that will return him to boxing and allow him to get into the ring again in a professional fight. The controversial boxer has experienced a series of negative events that he himself has caused and that will keep him away from the world of boxing for some time.

Garcia has accustomed his fans to generating controversy by criticizing his opponents and displaying erratic behavior on his social media, expressing a barrage of confusing and offensive ideas to many. Now, he has surprised everyone with a unique and special moment with his young children before undergoing a rehabilitation process to recover his mental and physical health.

Ryan Garcia says goodbye to his children before his rehabilitation

Ryan Garcia is suffering the consequences of his social media posts, his behavior exposed to everyone is pushing him further and further away from professional boxing, it seems that he is the only one responsible for ending his boxing career by giving himself a knockout.

Garcia has been suspended for doping for a year after testing positive for Ostarine before and on the same day of his fight against Devin Haney last April. At the time, the fighter stated that he would move to the UFC after learning of his boxing suspension. Will the UFC accept someone as controversial and problematic as Ryan?

Ryan received a hard blow after learning of the message from the president of the World Boxing Council, Mauricio Sulaiman. Due to Garcia’s racist comments on social media, the WBC decided to expel him from the organization.

“Exercising my authority as president of the WBC, I am hereby expelling Ryan Garcia from any activity with our organization,” Sulaiman shared on his social media.

And if that wasn’t enough, Ryan seems to embarrass his family, Garcia’s parents took to social media to claim that their son requires assistance.

“Our family unequivocally does not support any statements he has made regarding race or religion – these do not reflect who Ryan truly is and how he was raised,” read the family’s statement.

Now that Ryan has agreed to begin a rehabilitation process to recover his mental and physical health, he said goodbye to his children in a unique moment of tenderness that is very rare to see Garcia, in the clip the boxer is lying on his bed, while his two little ones hug him and smile being happy with their father. The scene is so heartwarming that it seems he is not as controversial a person as he has proven to be.

Now that Garcia seems to have hit rock bottom, he will be looking for a way to get back in the ring through a rehabilitation process. Let’s hope to see Ryan back in the ring very soon, demonstrating his boxing skills in a spectacular fight.

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• Jorge Masvidal defeated Nate Diaz with a third-round technical knockout when they met in the octagon at UFC 244 in 2019, claiming the symbolic title of “BMF” (Baddest Mother F***er), which, while not an official title, is a source of pride among the contenders.