Muhammad Ali's savvy daughter Laila talks up price of Claressa Shields mega-fight
As the world prepared for the biggest heavyweight fight of the year last month, women's boxing somehow wedged its way into the crowded commentary. No, it was not given a boost by promoters of Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder's rematch, as unfortunately none of the nine undercard fights featured women. But former middleweight champion of the world Laila Ali made sure the focus was not entirely male-dominated when, in her role as an ESPN pundit, she threw her hat into the ring.
After 13 years in retirement, Muhammad Ali's daughter responded to suggestion over the last few weeks that current leading American boxer, Claressa Shields, might tempt her back into action.
"Have I been sitting around and thinking about boxing? No. But lately there's been a little chatter," Ali said, speaking at the MGM Grand on Feb 21, the night before Fury's win over Wilder. "[Shield]'s been calling me out... and people are asking me: would you come back? Well, I have to be inspired by the opponent. I have to be inspired by the purse, because I have multiple things going on, multiple streams of income. I don't need to do it. I have to want to do it."
The apparent beef between the two undefeated champions had been bubbling away for most of 2020, sparked by Ali, 42, saying in January that there were no active boxers she would consider returning to the canvas for. Shields, 24, who calls herself the 'GWOAT' - greatest woman of all time - retorted by saying, “I don’t think Laila Ali could beat me in her prime". The back and forth has escalated from there.
Ali laid the gauntlet down in a radio interview, naming her price at $5 million to come out of retirement, before Shields confirmed "the money is there" ahead of the Fury-Wilder fight. "Enough talking," Shields wrote on her Twitter account later that day. "Let’s fight, make it big for women’s boxing."
Two boxers embroiled in public feuding and theatre to increase interest in their bout - or potential bout - is nothing new. But to watch two women engaging in the practice does have a novel feel to it, not to mention female athletes discussing prize money in the multiple-million dollar bracket.
Now a mother of two, Ali won the WBC, WIBA, IWBF and IBA female super middleweight belts, and was the IWBF light heavyweight title-holder, over a career that saw her go 24-0, with 21 knock outs before her 2007 retirement. Meanwhile, Shields is still in the prime of her career in her mid-twenties, as a two-time Olympic gold medallist and undefeated over 10 professional bouts. She is the reigning undisputed female middleweight world champion and the fastest boxer - male or female - to secure three division world titles.
A return would put Ali's entire entire legacy on the line, but the story here is not just whether she will be tempted to. If this was all just talk, the fact remains that these two women were savvy enough to use the most saturated moment in the boxing calendar to their advantage, and found multiple platforms for their own narrative.
Ali first gave her ballpark figure on Sirius XM radio, which over 200,000 people watched the video version of. Then, she continued the conversation when speaking on ESPN's hugely popular talkshow, First Take, which has 1.5 million Twitter followers. Their video of her speaking about the possibility of a Shields fight got over half a million views. Shields' response, via a popular boxing Youtube channel, was viewed over 200,000 times.
That they are throwing around prize money figures of such astronomical proportions is even more anomalous in women's sport. Shields' last bout reportedly saw her earn $300,000 but in generating the kind of attention they have, in simply floating the idea of a fight, she and Ali seem confident in the knowledge it would be a huge payday for them if it ever materialised.
These two female athletes used the platforms they had been afforded - not on the main stage, but in a commentary capacity - to push their own agendas unashamedly and succeeded in generating the kind of hype it deserves. If this fight ever did happen, you would back the pair to secure it the kind of showing it merits - and the purse.
