October 16, 2025
Ali remained coy on if she will step back into the ring to fight Shields.
Laila Ali has spoken, and it’s clear the ongoing feud between her and Claressa Shields stands.
Ali shared her thoughts on the proposed boxing match against Shields, who recently told tabloids that the former had declined her $15 million offer to enter the ring. Ali talked about the “chatter” surrounding the lofty offer, but wanted to keep her opponent’s image off her page. The Neighborhood Talk shared clips of all the back-and-forth conversations surrounding this suggested fight.
“Now, there was recently a lot of talk about me possibly making a comeback to boxing. There was even a $15 million challenge, and a whole lot of chatter,” explained Ali, seemingly referencing Shields’ public proposition.
“A whole lot has been said, except I didn’t get in the conversation until now.”
The daughter of Muhammad Ali continued, “Well, I have made time in my schedule, just like I said I would, to address this. And you know what, I don’t even want this person’s image on my page. So I want you to go to this page, because I’m going to be dropping my response very, very soon.”
However, instead of giving fans a straight answer, Ali kept poking fun at the situation. She told her followers that she runs her show, and she will let them know about her comeback on her time.
“Now to answer the question that I know many of you who are poking around waiting for me to give you an answer, the answer is yes… I am going to answer your question when I’m good and ready to do it. Because you know what, nobody calls shots on me. I do things when and how and where I like to do them.”
Ali also re-posted a new diss track that has fans in an uproar for its attacks on the fellow female boxing champion. The song, rapped by another woman named Geisha305, directly shaded Shield’s controversial relationship with rapper Papoose. Her personal life even prompted another beef with Papoose’s ex and fellow rapper, Remy Ma.
As tensions rise between the two female boxing champions, Shields spoke on Ali’s latest response to the proposal. The Flint native asserted that Ali seemed scared to face her, especially as she secured the number Ali suggested to step into the ring.
“Laila [Ali] and her representative told us ‘No,’” expressed Shields. And that’s fine. I have no problem with that, I’m not upset. I wouldn’t fight me either…I understand that she’s scared. I’m moving on.”
She continued, “I got plenty of girls who I can fight. I can make plenty of championships…I can go up, I can go down. I mean, it’s not a big deal, you know.”
Both women reign as two of the greatest boxing champions of all time. Currently, they hold undefeated records and multiple titles, making their match-up a highly anticipated fight, if it ever comes into fruition. In Shields’s eyes, if the $15 million check did not make Ali lace up her gloves, then she’s moving on.
She further stated, “I thought that she was about all that talk. She wanted 15 million. I went and got to 15 million, and now it’s all this backpedaling. So, you know, congrats to her and whatever she’s doing, but I’m moving on with my career, and I’m happy that she said no, I really didn’t want to put the paws on her anyway.”
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