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Even in the little known World of female boxing, Claressa Shields doesn't quite get the full respect that accompany her accomplishments. Maybe it is her trash talking which can be awful to hear, or her lack of power which makes her style regarded as somewhat boring. Nonetheless, Shields active boxing career is increasingly poised to go down as one of the greatest ever in female boxing, and we are only 11 fights into her professional Boxing career.

Early Great

Shields accomplishments include two Olympic gold medals in a stellar amateur career that only suffered a single loss as a blemish, and still remains the only loss she has ever suffered till date. Her professional career has been even more impressive in just 11 bouts, becoming a unified champion in three weight classes as well as undisputed champion in two of those.

Yet, for Shields, her accomplishments do not earn her the recognition she craves. A big bone of contention in that recognition has been in the area of money, where she feels she isn't been rewarded enough for all her accomplishments.

The Problem

Female boxing is still a relatively unpopular sport, comparable with the WNBA and its counterpart the NBA. This has made it almost impossible for promoters to meet up with some of her demands despite her accomplishments. From a personal perspective I understand how it must be for Shields; If we had a male boxer who was an undisputed champion in three weight classes after just 11 fights, undefeated and a two time Olympic Gold medalist, such a fighter will likely be on par in terms of popularity and earnings with Floyd Mayweather.

Yet from a business perspective, female boxing is still a difficult sell, although the tide does appear to be shifting gradually. Women are portrayed more in the spotlight and Shields has headlined her own card on multiple occasions. However, progress in terms of relativity with male counterparts can feel like retrogression and I'll put things in perspective.

From what I gathered, Shields highest guaranteed purse has been $300,000 from her last two fights. This is certainly a lot, but when you consider the fact that Deontay Wilder earned a guaranteed $4million for his last fight against Fury, and when you factor in all bonuses the amount was in excess of $10million.

Feeling Frustrated, Shields decided to take a look outside boxing and venture into the World of Mixed Martial Arts. This terrain combines all the skills of a cage fighter - Wrestling, Kickboxing, Boxing, martial arts and so on and blends them into a perfect mix for the spirit of competition.

On the surface it did look like a money move, but it is deeper than that for shields. Taking nothing but her boxing skills and confidence into the MMA, Shields decided to leave her comfort zone on a quest to prove herself the Ultimate fighter.

Had she not decided to try it out, she would still have retired a female boxing legend and one of the greatest, if not the greatest in history. However her quest for MMA glory has placed her in a position of vulnerability even when she didn't need to which I think is something to be admired.

Conclusion

Love her or hate her, Shields has gained my respect and I hope she succeeds in her MMA career and eventually go on to become a true superstar of female Combat sports.