To box with Claressa Shields, the money has to be “right”

Cris Cyborg wants to face boxing middleweight champion Claressa Shields, but several conditions would have to align with her interests. The first concern is money.

Cyborg is focused on her upcoming boxing match against Aria Wilde at Crypto Fight Night Off Chain 1 on Saturday at the O2 Arena in London, but is also aware of the potential challenge that awaits her in a matchup with Shields.

Both fighters have experience in each other's major combat sports: Shields is currently 2-1 in MMA with the PFL, while Cyborg is 3-0 in professional boxing.

The two have discussed the possibility of an intriguing fight and both seem to agree that boxing would be the best platform for it, but for Cyborg, several terms would need to be agreed upon, with fight money being the most important of them all.

“I think for this fight to happen, there has to be some money involved,” Cyborg told MMA Junkie Radio. “It has to be close to the MMA money. Coming from boxing to MMA, the money is different with the girls.”

While money is Cyborg's biggest concern, there are other issues. Cyborg has encouraged Shields, the undisputed middleweight (160 lbs) boxing champion, to lose weight. Cyborg, who competes in the Bellator women's featherweight (145 lbs) division, is willing to put on a few pounds, but Shields needs to lose weight to gain more ring experience. In fact, Shields will be even further away from Cyborg's demands in her next fight, at 175 lbs in July.

“She doesn't want to drop weight,” Cyborg said. “We all know she's going to move up to heavyweight, so if I were to fight her, it would be at 147 pounds, maybe 154 if the money was right. I know she can drop weight, and I can drop experience. I have two boxing fights.”

If all conditions are met, Cyborg is excited about what could be one of the biggest women's boxing bouts of the year.

“You know the big difference is, I'm a puncher,” Cyborg said. “So I want to fight with eight-ounce gloves. It'll be different, and she knows that. We've sparred before, but I think if this fight is going to happen, we have to come to an agreement.”

“Of course I would love to. I'm sure everyone would love to see this fight. She's calling me out after my second boxing match so we'll see what happens. Now it's up to her to make it happen. And the money has to be decent.”