While discussing 24-year-old Claressa Shields, who has been the reigning undisputed middleweight champion of professional women’s boxing since 2019, Ali, who retired undefeated, said, “She has fought at 168, she walks around at 185 and I’m 200 pounds right now today. I’m 200 pounds, so I’m naturally a bigger girl. But I’ve fought at 168. But that definitely will come into play. That’s why I have 21 knockouts.”

Ali and Shields have discussed one another on public platforms in the past. Ali said during an interview on “Sway In The Morning,” that Shields cannot beat her. “First of all, she could never beat me. Let me get that really straight right now. Not simply because she’s not strong enough, because I would definitely knock her out, because she’s not talented enough,” she said. “You’re talented. You can box. You can throw those hard punches. But there’s a sweet science to boxing. The reason you have not been able to knock out the opponents that you have faced, I can totally see it.”