Shields Backs Dubois, Calls Baumgardner Scared

Claressa Shields said Alycia Baumgardner is ducking Caroline Dubois and predicted the British lightweight would win if the two ever meet.

Dubois has pursued a fight with Baumgardner for months, but the former featherweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">super featherweight champion has moved in a different direction. Shields told Sky Sports that the reluctance is obvious given only a few pounds separate the fighters.

Shields On Baumgardner Avoiding Dubois Showdown

"I think that Baumgardner is 100 percent scared of Caroline, and she doesn't want to risk her record now that she already has one loss on it," Shields said, per Bad Left Hook. "I believe that Caroline will win that fight."

The two-time Olympic gold medalist praised Dubois as the next torchbearer for women's boxing and singled out Gabriela Fundora as another rising force. Shields said Dubois' aggressive style mirrors her own approach in the ring.

Shields offered to mentor Dubois and share her GWOAT label on one condition — that the 25-year-old continues chasing the biggest available fights and winning them. Dubois holds the WBC and WBO lightweight titles after stopping Terri Harper in April at Kensington Olympia.

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• Bad Left Hook — Claressa Shields backs Caroline Dubois, calls Alycia Baumgardner ‘scared’