Cris Cyborg has decided to make her boxing debut.
The MMA fighter already has supporters of her new career path, but Claressa Shields has criticized Cyborg’s upcoming boxing opponent.
During an open media workout for her upcoming rematch against Savannah Marshall, Shields spoke to the media and criticized Cyborg’s upcoming opponent, Simone Silva. She shared that she had sparred with Cyborg before and that the former Invicta and Bellator champion would beat her opponent, Jessica McCaskill.
“I’ve been able to get inside the ring with Cris, and I think she’s… good enough to where she doesn’t have to fight someone 17-14. I think she can take on some of the top girls… I think she can beat Jessica McCaskill,” Shields said.
“I think she can go to 154 and do some things. Cris Cyborg can box. We only sparred one time, four rounds, and she learned a lot. She adjusts very, very fast. She asked me some of the best questions that any sparring partner ever asked me. She wanted to understand and when I explained it to her, her eyes opened up and was like ‘wow.’”
Cyborg had also been considering a boxing fight against Kayla Harrison, a fight that Shields also criticized.
“…that would be a very interesting fight, cause that’s two MMA fighters coming into the boxing ring to box against each other,” she said. “I think it would be one of those fights like they’re both trying not to slam each other cause they both know that they both know how.”
Shields has trained with Harrison and claims that her time in uncomfortable wrestling positions in MMA has given her “different” cardio from her boxing competitors.