Claressa Shields has her sights set on bouts with Lauren Price on American soil and in the UK as the Olympic champion prepares for her first bout later this year.
Price remains the unified welterweight champion after winning a bloody bout against Stefani Pineiro in Cardiff on Saturday night.
The undefeated Welshwoman will then face Shields, the undisputed five-division world champion at heavyweight since February 2025, in a subsequent ring appearance, with the prospect of a middleweight fight increasing by the end of 2026.
Shields and Price (right) share the ring after the Welsh fighter’s win over Stefani Pineiro
Shields, who is 18-0 as a professional, told Sky Sports News about the fight with Price:
“She even wants to come to America, maybe fight there and then in England, if the first fight is good enough.
“Even if I win against a girl, they don’t want to fight me again, but given her pedigree, I believe we can have a better match.
“She’s going to be one of the most skilled girls I’ve ever competed against, so we’ll see. When she spoke, I felt confidence and energy. She looked me in the eye and said, ‘Come on, let’s do it.’ You don’t get that from a lot of girls.”
Shields’ promoter Dmitry Salita told Sky Sports: “We’ve had positive discussions and we believe it’s a fight that could happen this year. Probably in the United States.”
“For Claressa to travel to the UK to attend Lauren’s matches is a sign of respect and recognition for her skills.
“Claressa highly values the British fans and boxing culture, so there is no possibility of her competing in the UK in the future.”
Dmitry Sarita and Wynn Records guide Shields through his career (Photo by Sarita Promotions/Stephanie Tapp)
“Price and Mayer will be easy to work with.”
Shields won Olympic middleweight gold medals in London in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016, and the undefeated American says Price’s similar performance in Tokyo in 2020 makes the matchup between the two even more appealing.
Reflecting on Price’s hard-fought victory over Pineiro, Shields added, “Lauren was in the fight of her life, but she bounced back, showed toughness and showed her Olympic pedigree.”
Price was covered in blood during the weekend’s victory in Cardiff
Still, Shields expects Price and three-division world champion Mikaela Mayer to “make things easy” for her if she ever fights her fellow women.
Mr. Mayer is enthusiastic about that showdown, and Mr. Shields wants it, too, but stressed that the showdown with Mr. Price is more important.
“I said yes to Mikaela, but this fight with Price is much bigger than me and Mikaela. Price is an Olympic champion, but Mikaela is not. She’s a great champion, but I’d easily do both.”
“Michaela knows that. She’s a little taller and bigger than Lauren, but I’ve been with Michaela for years and she and I have never sparred. There’s a reason for that…”
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If Shields were to face Price away, it would be her first fight in the UK since recording a unanimous decision victory over Savannah Marshall at London’s O2 Arena in 2022, but she says the bout proved she was “better than I thought”.
“I came here and fought a knockout artist in Savannah Marshall. She was supposed to knock me out. I took her to deep water and drowned her.
“That game showed me that I’m much more athletic and great than I thought I was. I felt strong heading into that game, spent a lot of time with my coaches, and was ready.”
“Even when I got booed and people said, ‘She’s going to beat you,’ to dominate the way I did it, it showed me, ‘Wow, you’re really, really great.'”
