Salita Promotions
Undisputed women’s heavyweight boxing champ Claressa Shields is getting set to defend her status as the face of women’s boxing.
On Saturday, February 22nd, Shields will face off against unified middleweight champion Franchón Crews-Dezurn, who is moving up a weight class in an attempt to avenge her 2016 loss to Shields.
The fight will take place at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit and air live on DAZN.
The first face off between Claressa Shields & Franchon Crews-Dezurn was INTENSE 😤#ShieldsCrewsDezurn2 goes down on February 22nd LIVE from the Little Caesars Arena and streaming only on @DAZNBoxing. @Claressashields | @TheHHDiva pic.twitter.com/km25SVl42c
— Salita Promotions (@SalitaProm) December 16, 2025
We were able to catch up with Shields in South Florida to get her thoughts on her upcoming fight, recent comments directed at Jake Paul, and why she believes fans relate with her brand.
What’s your relationship with Franchon? You guys seem friendly, but there’s a competitive rivalry there?
“Yeah, I think that we’re more competitors than we are friends, and we’re more champions than we are friends. So we’re going to put the friendship and the sisterhood to the side and just fight.”
How do you get into fight mode against her, considering your past friendship?
“We were more than friends. That is like a sister, somebody who I looked up to and who I’ve recorded. She did the same thing for me. She makes me my boxing outfits. Listen, there is no beef. The only beef that I got is that I’m better than you. That’s it.”
“You think I’m not better than you, and I know that I am, and that’s the beef. I don’t think it’s anything against her. She said some things, but I think it’s just her trying to hype herself up for the fight. She’s talking sh–t online and talking shit, whatever. Saying like, Oh, she’s doing TikTok with this promoter, and then she’s doing this with the other promoter. Just playing the victim or whatever the fuck.”
“She got to geek herself up. That’s who Franchon is. You know what I’m saying? But is she a competitor? Yes. Can she fight? Yes. Is she dangerous? Yes. So there is no dislike toward her on my part. You know what I’m But if they told me that my mama had to get in the ring with me and it was on my belt, mama, I love you. But if you’re not catching with your right hand, that you got mama, I’m going to catch you in mind.”
You’ve made history in boxing multiple times. What keeps you going?
“Yeah. I mean, being able to sign an eight million dollar deal, I want to see what is the best shape I can be in, what is the best performance I can have. I’d be all 17 of my opponents, either unanimously or by knockout. So it’s like with the knockouts that I have, it’s like, how can I get more knockouts if I can dominate everybody? What do I have to do to knock them out? And that’s what pushes me every day in the gym.”
Last week, you defended Puerto Ricans when Jake Paul made comments about Bad Bunny being a “fake citizen.” Why was it important for you to speak out?
@jzosports Clarissa Shields on why she defended Bad Bunny & Puerto Ricans from Jake Paul’s fake citizen comments #claressashields
“Well, we’re all minorities. That’s why it was important. They’re not fake citizens. America owns Puerto Rico. They are just as much citizens as we are. So I think him saying fake citizens is what triggered me and what bothered me. But the big, broad conversation is everything that’s going on with ICE. Listen, I’m not against ICE, and I’m not with ICE, but I will say this, I don’t agree with any minority or anybody being gunned down by anybody.”
“To see that people have lost their lives to ICE, Black have lost their lives to police brutality. It all is the same thing. I just don’t. I just don’t like it. I just wish that we all should come together as a unity to not divide, but to come together. Now, fight Super Bowl, everybody always come together just for football. You may not watch football throughout the whole year, but you’re going to watch Super Bowl. I feel like with Jake Paul’s brand and everything being so big, I feel like he just chose that time to love and not hate and divide.”
What do you think it is about you and your brand that constantly keeps people wanting more and keeps them engaged with your following?
“I think that’s because I’m real. A lot of stuff on social media is fake. Fake made of people, fake personalities, fake money, fake all this stuff. And it’s like, you get the real me, you get my real relationship between me and Pap. You get my training, what I eat, how I train, who I train with, and the TikToks and the funny side of me. So I’m giving you everything all in one, and I don’t really have nothing to hide for real.”
“People can say whatever that they want to say, but I’m a great role model. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke. I’ve never been in jail, ever. I’ve never been in jail. And it’s like, what else can you expect from an athlete who doesn’t smoke, never been in jail, don’t drink, You want to crucify me for trash talking? Whatever, that a part of boxing, how I sell my fight tickets. At the end of the day, it’s like I have a biopic on my life.”
“I’m very rooted in God. I’m a spokesperson for women’s boxing and women’s sports. I stand up for myself and others. I stand for something, and I’m just a really nice person. So you can try to pick that apart, but when you go to my social media and everything, I’m mostly engaged with because I just give it to you raw. I don’t have to perpetrate who I am and be something that I’m not. I am the greatest woman of all time, period. That comes with the greatest boxer. I’m a woman. Then of all time, that means of all things. I cook and all that good stuff.”
You’ve sold 13k tickets already and the show is almost sold out, any message to the fans before the fight?
“I get a notification every day on my phone, showing me how many fans have bought tickets, right? And to see that we’re over 13,000 fans who have bought tickets already, and the venue only holds 18,000. There’s a lot to celebrate, okay? This whole rumor, Oh, Claressa don’t sell tickets. Fans are not coming out. It’s always been a myth. That was started I’m not going to lie about Savannah Marshall, and she stopped saying it because I thought I was going to sue her a–. She stopped saying it because it was a lie. I’ve always sold out big events.”
“I always had thousands of fans come in to see me fight. Now, with my brand being bigger with all my my last fans who’ve been supporting me this whole time, along with my new fans that has come with my new starter, because when you got a new starter, you got different levels, and you got new fans. I want to thank all of them for buying their tickets”
“And now that we only have 5,000 more seats left, to anybody that was saying that I can’t sell, saying that women boxing don’t have fans, I proved you to be a lie once again. So thanks to all my fans. And to all my haters, hopefully, you all get some tickets, too.”