One of the surest and safest ways to grab attention in boxing in 2026 is to spark up the old gender debate, a tactic with which Claressa Shields, the reigning women’s heavyweight champion, is clearly familiar.
Shields, a woman without equal in her own domain, has often entertained the prospect of testing herself against men and has, as a result, been routinely questioned about that one day happening. Of course, we can be almost certain it never will, but that doesn’t stop Shields talking about it, nor does it preclude people from asking her about it.
In fact, Shields has recently been at it again, this time claiming she has the skills to beat Rolando “Rolly” Romero, the current WBA “Regular” welterweight champion. Asked which male world champion she would back herself to beat, Shields, without hesitation, told the Justin Laboy Show: “I’d beat Rolly, he’s a world champion.” She then served to somewhat undermine this statement by calling him “Rolly Ramirez” before going on to explain: “Listen, I think Rolly is very unorthodox and very strong, but I’m way taller than him, way longer than him, and have got better boxing skills. It’s hard for somebody who’s smaller to hurt somebody who’s bigger. I walk around at 185 [pounds), he fights at 140. Or is it ’47?”
It’s 147 pounds, for the record, but that’s hardly the point. The point is, Shields, 18-0 (3 KOs), reckons she can beat Romero in a legitimate, regulated fight. The bigger point, meanwhile, is this: Shields will continue to be asked ludicrous man vs. woman questions for as long as she indulges the people asking them. There is no doubt she believes what she says – Shields isn’t one for either macho posturing or deceit – but again, in matters such as this, that’s not the point. Far better, in this scenario, to treat the question with the disdain it deserves than to create a drama which will ultimately lack any sort of climax or resolution. Instead, all you will get is some futile back and forth between two people – in this case, Shields and Romero – who will never meet in the ring, at least not competitively, and are therefore unable to prove that they are right.
“I just don’t hit women,” Romero said on the NightCap Show in response to Shield’s remark. “It’s not even about the money. Twenty million [dollars], thirty million, a hundred million, I wouldn’t sell myself to go hit a woman.
“I can’t fight Devin [Haney] now, either. He’s a woman.”
Despite that mildly amusing quip, Romero and Devin Haney are expected to fight on May 30 in a welterweight unification at Barclays Center, New York. That’s according to BoxingScene’s Lance Pugmire, who last week reported that Romero, 17-2 (13 KOs), has already signed to fight Haney, 33-0 (15 KOs), and that Haney, the WBO welterweight champion, is in “serious conversations” to now finalise the bout.
As for Romero one day fighting Shields, no amount of talking about it, no amount of attention created by it, and no amount of money thrown at the pair will ever make that come to fruition. A good thing, too.
