Claressa Shields clarifies leaked emails about appearing on Jake Paul undercard

Multiple-weight undisputed champion Claressa Shields is one of the most decorated fighters in history, and has had an ongoing feud with YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul

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Claressa Shields sets the record straight on Jake Paul emails

Claressa Shields has claimed the leaked emails which showed her representatives asking for her to fight on Jake Paul’s undercard have been misconstrued.

Earlier this month, it was revealed through a report in USA Today Sports+ that Shields’ representatives had attempted to get her on the Mike Tyson vs Roy Jones Jr undercard in November 2020.

The report also mentioned emails where her manager Mark Taffet had made an effort to get her a slot on Triller’s April 17 pay-per-view event, which was headlined by Paul’s bout with Ben Askren.

He and Dmitry Salita, corresponded over a period of months with Nakisa Bidarian, Paul’s manager and a producer on Triller’s Tyson vs Jones event, but nothing ever materialised for the pair to work together

But Shields insists that she would never under any circumstances have wanted to pursue that avenue had a deal been put to her following the talks.

She told Mirror Fighting at a virtual press conference for her February 5 middleweight title defence against Ema Kozin that she was unaware of emails sent by her management, who make numerous attempts to get her favourable deals.

“First of all, this isn’t about Jake Paul, this is about Claressa Shields and Ema Kozin,” she explained.

“As it was said, I don’t email about this stuff – I have a manager and I have a promoter, their job is to make opportunities for me.

“What you need to know is I was supposed to be on a Mike Tyson and Roy Jones undercard, not ever under Jake Paul – let’s get that clear.

“I don’t know what the emails said, and I really don’t care, but we’re not going to talk about that and give him the shine of this press conference.”

Shields has often stated that Paul is a “clown show”, and when she attended his debut fight against AnEsonGib in January 2020, she referred to YouTubers boxing as “cute”.

And she says that she is tired of him making his way into discussions around elite fighters, with a number of top boxers finding themselves discussing the social media star.

Paul is essentially a novice at 5-0 in the professional ranks with one white collar boxing win prior, and Shields is keen to keep her discussions around higher level competitors.

Are you looking forward to seeing Claressa Shields back in the UK on February 5? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!

“This is about me, this is about Ema, this is about world titles, this is about elite boxers,” Shields continued. “I’m just going to leave that there.

“Dmitry [her promoter, who was on the call] doesn’t even need to speak on it, managers do their job, promoters do their job and fighters train to get ready for our fights.”

The correspondences between Shields’ team and Bidarian continued from before the November 28 fight date between Tyson and Jones through to the build-up for Paul’s August bout with Tyron Woodley.

It is unknown if Taffet was aware in March that the plan was for Paul vs Askren to headline on April 17, as at the time Triller had just won the purse bids for Teofimo Lopez and George Kambosos Jr’s unified lightweight title fight.

They were also very publicly angling to put together a trilogy bout between Tyson and Evander Holyfield, eventually announcing a bout between Holyfield and Kevin McBride which never materialised.