Trailblazing Olympian Claressa Shields brings the might of the Floyd Mayweather Gym to Cardiff on Saturday night where she’ll defend her unified crown against Slovenia’s Ema Kozin.
Despite clearing out three-weight divisions and holding a perfect record as a professional, Shields, hungry for improvement, added Mayweather’s coach Gerald Tucker to her team in November.
Cleveland’s Tucker has worked side-by-side with Shields’ head coach John David Jackson, Tucker’s first assignment since preparing Mayweather for his exhibition with YouTuber Logan Paul last year.
Tucker roomed with Mayweather during the 1996 Olympics and went on to campaign as a super featherweight before prematurely retiring after a personal tragedy in 2016.
Shields, benefitting from Tucker’s contacts, finished off her camp at the Mayweather Gym in Las Vegas and used the opportunity to ask advice and train alongside the man himself.
Shield's promoter Dmitriy Salita believes Tucker can add a new dimension to her game, speaking to Vegas Insider he said.
“Claressa and Gerald started working together back in November for the original December 11 date. Gerald is young, smart and experienced as a fighter and a trainer. He and John David Jackson have a good rapport, which I believe is taking Claressa's training and her performance to the next level.”
“Claressa has added Gerald Tucker to her corner, who is Floyd Mayweather’s head trainer, so this camp has been definitely influenced by Floyd’s style of boxing, which will be evident in Claressa’s performance. I believe Claressa is going to make a statement in a big way on February 5.
Adding to the intrigue of this middleweight clash, Mayweather, who is rumoured to be staging an exhibition against Dubai based YouTuber Money Kicks atop the Burj Al Arab later this month, could be making an appearance in the Welsh Capital, Salita continued:
“Floyd is a fan of Claressa and is possibly attending her fight on Saturday night in Cardiff. Floyd gave Claressa particular details on how to improve certain techniques that will help her deliver a spectacular performance in this fight vs Ema Kozin.”
Should Shields prevail on her UK debut, a super-fight with Hartlepool’s Savannah Marshall whets the appetite. The pair are engaged in a longstanding social media spar, which if moved offline and into the ring, has the potential to grow into a marquee night for women’s boxing.
Sky Sports and Boxxer’s Ben Shalom have both Shields and Marshall under contract in the UK, paving the way for this mouthwatering clash should Shields come through.
*18+ | BeGambleAware
