Two-division world champion Natasha Jonas is still very much interested in facing unbeaten Claressa Shields.
Last year, Jonas moved up in weight by several divisions to capture three world titles at the junior middleweight limit of 154-pounds.
At the start of 2023, there were discussions of a Shields vs. Jonas encounter – but the two sides were far apart on the money.
On July 1 in Manchester, Jonas dropped down to welterweight and stopped Kandi Wyatt to capture the vacant IBF world title. Shields was ringside to support her close friend Franchon Crews-Dezurn, who was facing Savannah Marshall in the main event.
During the event, Shields was interviewed by Sky Sports and made it clear that Jonas would get ‘knocked out’ if they met in the ring.
Jonas rolled her eyes at Shields’ vow of a knockout victory.
“Who has she knocked out? Let’s be honest,” Jonas told Sky Sports News.
“We’re levels apart? Maybe in weight levels, but we’re getting closer. She says she’ll come down to 147-pounds, put her money where her mouth is and let’s see if she does.
“She said that before [that she would move down] but Dmitriy Salita [Shields’ promoter] also said ‘We want to do it at a catchweight of 156-pounds’, because she couldn’t make 154 and now she’s saying she’ll do 147-pounds. That’s not what her own team are saying. There’s lots of contradictions in what she says.”
Shields, regarding by most observers as the top pound-for-pound fighter in women’s boxing, is currently the undisputed world champion at middleweight.
Her promoter, Dmitriy Salita, confirms that a potential fight with Jonas would not take place at the welterweight limit.
“As Don King use to say there is 99 ways to say no and only one way to say yes to a fight. Claressa is the undisputed middleweight world champion. To offer Claressa a fight at welterweight fits into one of the 99 ways,” Salita told Sky Sports.