Lani Daniels ’ proposed April fight against Nailini Helu had just been cancelled, when Claressa Shields slid into her DMs on Instagram.
“It was pretty much like ‘you’re scared to fight me,’” Daniels tells DAZN News about Shields’ direct message to her.
The first thought that entered Daniels’ mind?
“I thought she could of at least said hello,” the New Zealand boxer says in jest, flashing a grin worthy of her nickname ‘The Smiling Assassin.’
Daniels’ next thought questioned the legitimacy of message, altogether.
“I thought maybe her account was hacked or something because she’s a big deal.”
Little did Daniels, the IBF light heavyweight world champion , know at the time that her coach and Shields’ team were in talks for Daniels to step up in weight and challenge the ‘GWOAT’ at heavyweight.
Daniels was honest with herself when responding to Shields.
“I was thinking ‘who wouldn’t be scared to fight the GWOAT?’” Daniels said of Shields. “She’s pretty intimidating. So I was thinking, ‘yeah that’s pretty scary but for me, I love a challenge.’ The best way to face fear is head on.
“So I was like ‘yeah, I’m scared of you, but I’ll still beat you.’”
With that, the groundwork was laid to fruition in the form of Daniels challenging for Shields’ undisputed heavyweight crown at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan, and live on DAZN , on Saturday night.
If Daniels is to make history by being the first New Zealander to become undisputed heavyweight champion, she’ll have to upset Shields whose place in boxing history is cemented with indelible marks.
Daniels set to shock the GOAT
This past February, Shields (16-0, 3 KOs) became the first and only boxer, male or female, to reach undisputed glory in three different divisions, making heavyweight the latest jewel in her crown. That’s in addition to her two Olympic gold medals.
Dethroning that dominance and the aura of invincibility that surrounds Shields is what Daniels is up against, but it is a monumental task that her team believes can be done.
“She has flaws,” Daniels’ coach John ‘The Rebel’ Conway insists about Shields.
With Conway’s background in Kung Fu and Muay Thai blending into his approach in guiding Daniels, he promises his charge will present an unforeseen puzzle for Shields to solve, including an emphasis on single power shots over operating in a continuous flow state.
“Our punches are going to be a little different from a traditional boxer,” Conway vows of Daniels this weekend. “Our timing is going to be different, our range will be different and the power of Lani’s punches will be different from the other girls. It’s an aggressive, forward-forward motion boxing style.”
He adds: “We want to look at Claressa taking backwards steps and see how she does going backwards. Nobody has really done that before to her.”
It is a daunting task considering how dominant Shields has been in heavyweight action thus far, destroying Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse via second-round TKO to win the WBC title in July 2024 before delivering a unanimous decision over Danielle Perkins for the IBF, WBA and WBO titles in undisputed glory earlier this year.
