Who would win between Laila Ali and Claressa Shields In A Hypthetical Match-up? Christy Martin a women’s boxing legend in her own right makes an official prediction.

Boxing legend Christy Martin recently weighed in on the ongoing feud between two of the biggest names in the history of women’s boxing: Claressa Shields and Laila Ali.

Shields, the undefeated multi-division world champion who labels herself the greatest woman fighter ever, has called for a fight against Ali, the retired undefeated champion and daughter of Muhammad Ali, who many fight fans know simply as “The Greatest.”

During a recent episode of the Boxing Voice, Martin made her views clear:

“Laila would smoke her,” Martin said emphatically, pointing to the significant power differential between the two fighters.

Martin added important context: during Ali’s professional career, she won 21 of her 24 fights by knockout. Shields, by contrast, has gone the distance in most of her 16 victories, recording only three stoppage wins.

Notably, Christy Martin was one of Laila Ali’s knockout victims, having faced Ali in 2003.

“You see how big Laila is?” she asked the interviewer.

For comparison, Shields is officially listed at 5’8″ and has recently competed at heavyweight in her career. At the same time, Ali stood at 5’11” and had a natural size advantage in the super middleweight division.

Martin, known as “The Coal Miner’s Daughter,” also scolded Shields for repeatedly calling out a retired fighter. Laila Ali has not fought in almost two decades.

“Why don’t you pick on someone that’s your age and weight?”

In recent years, Claressa Shields has gained attention by highlighting not only female champions but also elite male boxers, including Gennady Golovkin and Keith Thurman. Martin was unimpressed by this bravado, adding:

“You can’t even knock out women — how are you going to knock out a guy?”

Christy Martin, who was the first female boxer inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame in 2016, retired with a record of 49 wins (31 KOs), 7 losses, and 3 draws. She held multiple world titles across her storied career and is widely regarded as a pioneer for women’s boxing.

Though Claressa Shields may be a beast inside the ring, it seems she’s no chump outside of it either—especially when it comes to her apparently longstanding beef with fellow boxing champion Laila Ali. And things may have just gotten more serious.

For context, the issues between the two allegedly stem from a pair of interviews Ali did on “The Breakfast Club” and “Sway’s Universe” back in 2012 in which she said that she hadn’t observed anything in the boxing world that inspired her enough to un-retire and come back to the sport. Upon hearing those words, Shields reportedly took offense to it—especially considering she’d just made history that same year by becoming the first American woman to win gold medal in boxing. She also subsequently began questioning Ali’s legacy and her impact in the sport thus resulting in their “beef.”

However, in a recent interview with “All the Smoke Fight,” Ali is pushing back on any sort of issues between her and Shields.

“I don’t have any hard feelings against Claressa in general, because I got a lot going on over here, you already know, to be worried about any of these young girls like that,” Ali said. “But at the same time, I see that she gets into it with a lot of people.”

Ali went on to say how Shields isn’t going to get that far in life if she keeps “burning bridges” and that she should “stay humble” and know that other people can and will surpass her.

Well, much like back in 2012, Ali’s words didn’t land well with Shields yet again and she took to YouTube to get it off her chest.

“I’ve been come to terms that she’s jealous,” Shields expressed. “Now, I got the biopic. I got the fight coming up. She act like I owe her something, it’s weird,” Shields said in part before later adding:

I’m trying to figure out why when it comes to me, here she comes. Today she really offended me. She said burning bridges and if I keep burning bridges, I won’t get very far. I’ve gotten further in my career and in my life than Laila Ali… She wanna come and give this big sister advice… but I’ve already made it further than you… and I’m going to keep making it further than you.

“This is my era now, and she has never supported me in my era,” Shields concluded.

The boxing world is buzzing after Claressa Shields accused Laila Ali of harboring jealousy toward her career achievements. The dispute reignited following Ali’s recent appearance on the All the Smoke Fight podcast, where she reflected on her legacy and addressed tension with Shields.

Laila Ali vs. Claressa Shields

Ali, a retired four-time champion and daughter of Muhammad Ali, claimed their conflict began in 2012 when Shields reached out for mentorship after winning her first Olympic gold medal. Ali suggested that Shields drop a weight class to excel further but later mentioned in interviews that she found no inspiration to return to boxing. Shields reportedly took offense, leading to a long-running feud.

Claressa Shields says that Laila Ali is “jealous” of her success with her “hater energy.”

The back and forth kicked off after an interview featuring Ali on Andre Ward’s All The Smoke Fight podcast went public on Tuesday (Jan. 14). The video found the former boxer discussing her in-ring rivalries, as the conversation found itself on Shields. The Miami Beach native revealed that Claressa once reached out to find mentorship in Ali, hoping to get career advice after Shields won the Olympics in 2012. Shortly after, Ali recalls being invited to The Breakfast Club and Sway’s Universe to promote her cookbook and during this conversation, the hosts asked her if she would ever come back to boxing.

Despite Ali saying nice things about Claressa and the boxers at that time, Ali insisted that there wasn’t anything that inspired her enough to want to return to the ring. Shields apparently heard the comments and took offense to the language, resulting in their decades-long feud and the woman questioning Ali’s resumè.

“You can think you can beat me,” Ali said. “That’s fine. You’re supposed to think that. But to start going in on my legacy, what I have and haven’t done… that’s a lot.”

Ali ended her conversation by offering advice to the Flint, Michigan native, insisting that she could probably get further in her career if she were to “stop burning bridges.”

“I don’t have any hard feelings against Clarissa in general, because I got a lot going on over here, you already know, to be worried about any of these young girls like that,” the 47-year-old woman said. “But at the same time, I see that she gets into it with a lot of people.”

Much like in the 2010s, Claressa recently heard Ali’s comments and decided to unload on the former Women’s Boxing Champion.

Shields responded in a 5-minute rant, not holding back on what she perceives as the main issue between the two women. The 29-year-old said Ali was “jealous” of her success, especially because she has made it further than where Laila was when she was her age. The current women’s boxing champion then stated that she hasn’t burnt and bridges with people that matter in her life, claiming that she is already successful and will continue to “make it further” than Ali ever made it.

“I’ve been come to terms that she’s jealous,” Shields expressed. “Now, I got the biopic. I got the fight coming up. She act like I owe her something, it’s weird.“

“I’m trying to figure out why when it comes to me, here she comes. Today she really offended me. She said burning bridges and if I keep burning bridges, I won’t get very far,” Shields said. “I’ve gotten further in my career and in my life than Laila Ali… She wanna come and give this big sister advice… but I’ve already made it further than you… and I’m going to keep making it further than you.”

The self-proclaimed “GWOAT” then asserted that, “This is my era now, and she has never supported me in my era,” before ending her lengthy rant.