Shields: Cyborg Spurned $2M Bout, Now Ducks Sparring Loss

Claressa Shields says Cris Cyborg once turned down a $2 million offer to box her at 154 pounds, and she believes the real reason the fight never happened traces back to a sparring session Cyborg would rather forget.

Shields laid out the numbers in blunt terms. "But as far as Cris, she turned $2 million already back when a guy from Saudi had $3 million for her," Shields told TMZ Sports. "Well, $3 million for me and $2 million for her and we could [do that at] 154 [pounds]. She turned it down and that's back when we were cool." The split money offer would have paired two of combat sports' biggest crossover names in a catchweight bout at 154 pounds, above Shields' usual operating range but a natural middle ground for a fighter of Cyborg's frame.

Why Does Claressa Shields Say Cris Cyborg Turned Her Down?

Shields now believes the offer collapsed for personal reasons, not business ones. She pointed to a sparring session she says exposed a gap between the two that Cyborg has tried to obscure since. "I think she don't like me because I whooped her a*s in sparring. That's what happened. She got like this edited clip that she begged me to let her and her team put together," Shields said. She was even more direct about how one-sided she felt the work was. "But I had every round when we sparred and I know for a fact she was a deer in headlights. I beat her. Yeah. Yes. It was easy work," Shields said.

That is a serious claim to make publicly about a fighter with Cyborg's résumé, and it reframes the stalled negotiation. Instead of a simple money dispute, Shields is painting the breakdown as personal, rooted in an ego bruise from the gym rather than a disagreement over purse splits.

Where Both Fighters Stand Now

Shields is coming off a clean run through the middleweight ranks. Shields recently finished Kay Scott to win the WBA and WBC female middleweight titles, keeping her boxing résumé spotless while she continues to angle for the biggest crossover fights available to her. Cyborg, meanwhile, has stayed on the MMA side of the ledger. Cyborg beat Ketlen Vieira in his last mixed martial arts bout in the Professional Fighters League, a result that keeps her firmly positioned as one of the sport's dominant forces even as the boxing money sits on the table.

For bettors, there is no fight to price here, and Shields did not announce a new offer or a rescheduled date. But the financial detail matters for how the market should think about any future Shields-Cyborg boxing talks: a $3 million-to-$2 million split already existed and was rejected, which tells oddsmakers and promoters that getting this fight made will take more than money alone. If pride and a disputed sparring result are really driving the holdup, as Shields claims, then a bigger check might not be the thing that finally gets Cyborg to sign.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Cris Cyborg turn down a fight with Claressa Shields?

Claressa Shields says Cris Cyborg turned down a $2 million offer to box her at 154 pounds, part of a deal that would have paid Shields $3 million.

Why do Claressa Shields and Cris Cyborg have bad blood?

Claressa Shields claims the tension stems from a sparring session she dominated, saying Cyborg later had an edited clip of the session put together.

What is Claressa Shields' current boxing status?

Claressa Shields recently finished Kay Scott to win the WBA and WBC female middleweight titles.