Floyd Mayweather could fly to Cardiff this weekend to watch mentee Claressa Shields defend her titles, according to the pair’s head coach Gerald Tucker.
Unified women’s middleweight champion Shields defends her belts against Slovenia’s Ema Kozin on the undercard of Chris Eubank Jr vs Liam Williams, and the American has been training with compatriot Mayweather recently.
Mayweather, who retired undefeated in 2017 with a professional record of 50-0, has since fought in two exhibitions bouts – against kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa and YouTuber Logan Paul. Having finished Nasukawa and gone all eight rounds with Paul, Mayweather is now due to fight YouTube star Money Kicks on a helipad in Dubai.
In preparation for that contest, the 44-year-old has been training with Shields, whom he may see in action live this Saturday.
“I honestly think that it was very motivating for Claressa to train beside Floyd,” Tucker told VegasInsider. “She’s literally the Floyd of the women’s side of the sport and she wants what he has: a team of employees like his, the money, the accolades, the status.
“She got to see first-hand what it takes and how it feels to have it, she’s a women on more of a mission now.
“Floyd also was motivated by Claressa’s work,” Tucker added. “He told me several times while watching her train with me that ‘that girl can fight, she can fight.’
“And I felt the energy it gave him as we trained right after her gym session, and Floyd was fired up tremendously from watching his mentee train with so much passion. Floyd was more than happy to have Claressa in camp with him.
“Floyd mentioned coming to the fight [in Cardiff] at the gym while Claressa was working on the bag. He asked us if we wanted him there, and of course we said: ‘Hell yeah.’
“He’s gonna try his best to come and support Claressa and get some more training while here to prepare for his upcoming fight later this month in Dubai.”
Shields last boxed in March as she outpointed Marie Eve Dicaire to extend her unbeaten record to 11-0.
Since then, the 26-year-old has fought twice in professional mixed martial arts, winning her debut via TKO with a gritty performance before suffering a split-decision loss in her next outing.
