Claressa Shields Claims Laila Ali Is “Jealous” Of Her Success And Legacy

Moise/Getty Images for WSF; Dipasupil/Getty Images for WSF

Claressa Shields says that Laila Ali is “jealous” of her success with her “hater energy.”

The back and forth kicked off after an interview featuring Ali on Andre Ward’s All The Smoke Fight podcast went public on Tuesday (Jan. 14). The video found the former boxer discussing her in-ring rivalries, as the conversation found itself on Shields. The Miami Beach native revealed that Claressa once reached out to find mentorship in Ali, hoping to get career advice after Shields won the Olympics in 2012. Shortly after, Ali recalls being invited to The Breakfast Club and Sway’s Universe to promote her cookbook and during this conversation, the hosts asked her if she would ever come back to boxing.

Despite Ali saying nice things about Claressa and the boxers at that time, Ali insisted that there wasn’t anything that inspired her enough to want to return to the ring. Shields apparently heard the comments and took offense to the language, resulting in their decades-long feud and the woman questioning Ali’s resumè.

“You can think you can beat me,” Ali said. “That’s fine. You’re supposed to think that. But to start going in on my legacy, what I have and haven’t done… that’s a lot.”

Ali ended her conversation by offering advice to the Flint, Michigan native, insisting that she could probably get further in her career if she were to “stop burning bridges.”

“I don’t have any hard feelings against Clarissa in general, because I got a lot going on over here, you already know, to be worried about any of these young girls like that,” the 47-year-old woman said. “But at the same time, I see that she gets into it with a lot of people.”

Much like in the 2010s, Claressa recently heard Ali’s comments and decided to unload on the former Women’s Boxing Champion.

Shields responded in a 5-minute rant, not holding back on what she perceives as the main issue between the two women. The 29-year-old said Ali was “jealous” of her success, especially because she has made it further than where Laila was when she was her age. The current women’s boxing champion then stated that she hasn’t burnt and bridges with people that matter in her life, claiming that she is already successful and will continue to “make it further” than Ali ever made it.

https://twitter.com/ArtOfDialogue_/status/1880759671109345780

“I’ve been come to terms that she’s jealous,” Shields expressed. “Now, I got the biopic. I got the fight coming up. She act like I owe her something, it’s weird.”

“I’m trying to figure out why when it comes to me, here she comes. Today she really offended me. She said burning bridges and if I keep burning bridges, I won’t get very far,” Shields said. “I’ve gotten further in my career and in my life than Laila Ali… She wanna come and give this big sister advice… but I’ve already made it further than you… and I’m going to keep making it further than you.”

The self-proclaimed “GWOAT” then asserted that, “This is my era now, and she has never supported me in my era,” before ending her lengthy rant.

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