Boxer Claressa Shields on Serena Williams: “Who the hell does she think she is?'”
Photo Credit – Claressa Shields
This week, HBO premiered a five-part docu-series on tennis great Serena Williams called “Being Serena. A 23 time Grand slam singles champion, Serena is giving a glimpse to the side of her that most don’t see.
Williams has inspired many, even two-time boxing gold medalist, Claressa Shields.
Well, that was until Serena and Shields had a falling out at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Appearing on the Scoop B Radio Podcast, Shields explained to host, Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson that Williams disrespected her and other athletes while they were living in the Olympic Village during the summer Olympics.
You can listen to the interview in its entirety by pressing play below.
As per Complex’s Jose Martinez:
The first time Claressa ran into Serena, it was prior to the 2016 Olympics. Following a boxing session, Shields was hanging with Shakur Stevenson, their coach Kay Karoma, and Mikaela Mayer when they noticed Williams with three other girls. “I’m not the type of person to just jump on somebody so I was just like ‘Hey Serena’ and there was nobody around,” she said. “I talk very loud so when I said it, she didn’t say nothing. She just acted like she couldn’t hear me and just kept walking straight. After that, Shakur Stevenson was just like, ‘Did she just ignore you?’ And then after she heard Shakur say that, she just looked over and said ‘hey’ and kept going so that was strike number one for Serena Williams and I let that go even though I was very upset.”
Shields said that her second interaction with Williams was also not so pleasant and that Duke University basketball coach, Mike Krzyzewski had to get involved.
According to Shields, Coach K promised to help her get a photo of them together during the Opening Ceremony of the 2016 Olympics. “So during the walk, I walk in with Coach K and he tells me, ‘I’m going to get you that picture with Serena Williams,’ and I told him, ‘No I don’t want no picture, as a matter fact, you can ask her if you want, but I’m not going to ask her because I see how she is now,'” she recalls. “So, Coach K went and tapped her and her and the girls that were with her, they ignored him she acted like she didn’t feel him touch her. She finally looked back and saw it was him and walked away so fast and I just was like, ‘Who the hell does she think she is?'”
Shields detailed that she left Williams a direct message on Instagram detailing her displeasure with the tennis star, but ended up deleting it and blocking Williams altogether.
Claressa Shields has a big fight coming up. She’ll drop down to the middleweight division to face unified junior middleweight world title holder, Hanna Gabriels on June 22 at the Masonic Temple in Detroit, Michigan.
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Landon Buford Washington State Graduate Past Interviews include Grammy Award Winner Kenny G, David Banner, WNBA President Lisa Borders, What's Trending's CEO Shira Lazar, Ice Cube, NBC's Chicago PD LaRoyce Hawkins, Family Matters Darius McCrary, En Vogues Maxine Jones, Team USA Track & Field Member Norris Frederick, James Kyson, WNBA Great Lauren Jackson, and more.
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