Boxing champion Claressa Shields is facing online scrutiny after asking a woman and her children to leave a holiday toy giveaway she hosted in Flint, Michigan.
On social media, Shields discussed the incident that occurred during her annual Christmas giveaway. She described the woman as a “troll” who had repeatedly criticized Shields online before attending the giveaway.
“She had been trolling me online and saying how she was going to spit on me. You know, just making up posts and talking about me all the time. It got to the point where I blocked the girl on everything.”
Shields told the woman, “Don’t even make a big scene, just go.” Shields believed the woman’s attendance was not in good faith but connected to prior antagonistic online behavior.
“I had my Christmas giveaway, and the girl came front of the line with her kids. The bigger person in me, the god in me, was like, man, it’s cool she’s here to get some gifts or whatever. But she was online, saying I was broke. I’m ugly this, I’m ugly that, I can’t dress, and she’s going to spit on me. . . I went and found her in the front of the line, smiled in her face and said, ‘Leave.’”
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Shields later expressed regret after learning the woman and her children were unhoused. She stated that she possibly would have handled the situation differently had she known their circumstances.
Shields, a Flint native and multiple-division world champion, has regularly hosted holiday giveaways and community events in the city as part of her philanthropic efforts, which have been covered positively. Though her events have always been well received, Shields herself sometimes rubs the internet the wrong way.
Lately, her relationship antics with married rapper Papoose have had the internet giving her the side-eye. The world champion boxer is often in back-and-forth internet commentary with fans and the rapper’s famous wife, Remy Ma. Shields also issued an open invitation to former women’s boxer Laila Ali to get in the ring once again for a purse of $15 million. Ali refused the offer. Reactions to her latest controversies are mixed. Which, unfortunately, casts a shadow over the boxer’s good deeds. Hopefully, 2026 brings the record-breaking, history-making boxer more luck and positive press.
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