Claressa Shields

23:07Right. It's like, bro, when can I watch a fight where she's actually boxing? She's knocking everybody out. Right. Fifth round, fourth round, third round, second round. It's like she's knocking them out. And I'm like, somebody who's not really cut for boxing would be like, I'm not getting in the ring with her. Right. Because there's something about her that she's knocking these girls out. It's scary. Yeah. But in my mind, I was like, I want that.

23:29Steph McMahon:I was just going to say, how are you mentally preparing yourself as you're watching knockout after knockout? What's your mental game going into a fight like that? I'm in the gym just making sure I get faster, stronger, smarter. I'm looking at what's her best punches, what's her worst punches. What does she do good, what does she do bad? And I want to manipulate everything. I actually want her to do everything that she does good. I'm going to respect that and let her know, I know you do that good, but it won't be good against me. I'm going to figure out a way to wear your best punches. Don't mean nothing.

24:02Right? And so I figured that out. I figured out that her uppercut is very sneaky. You know, I figured that out. I figured out that her punches are knocking these girls out because, one, she's way bigger than them. Naturally. Like, she's rehydrating back to 195 after we weigh in at 160. Oh, damn. I'm rehydrating, like, 172. I'm gaining, like, 12 pounds. Did you say 195? Yeah. These boxers are crazy. Wow. They rehydrating. It's crazy. I don't know how she get down there to the weight, but their rehydration is crazy. When we got inside the ring, she was taller. She was wider. She was bigger. In my mind, I'm like, she must have a twin sister because this ain't her.

24:43It's not the same woman. No. I've been facing off with her. I've been talking trash to her. I've been face-to-face with her this many times, and then we get inside the ring, and I bounce past her because I walk the ring before every fight. When I get inside the ring, I walk the ring to her. And why do you do that? Let these girls know this is my shit.

25:01Steph McMahon:This is my house. Yeah, yeah. As soon as I get in there, I walk the whole ring. I bounce past her corner. I just remember brushing past her. And I said, when did she get that big? In my mind, I'm like, don't even think about it. Yeah, don't think you know that. In my mind, I'm like, she won that big yesterday. We just made fuck yesterday. Not the same girl. And then I remember thinking to myself, well, it don't really matter now. We're already in here. Yeah, that's right. You know, it doesn't matter if she's big, she's small, whatever, fast, strong. It don't matter. We're already in here. The future of furniture is here.

25:40Steph McMahon:Why buy ordinary furniture when you can come home to King? Save up to 50 % on selected designs at the King Living Summer Sale. Shop online or visit your nearest King showroom today. What do you think was the biggest difference in yourself 10 years later? The biggest difference in myself in 2012 to 2022 was I was way more hardworking. I was way more hardworking, way more disciplined, way more focused. I think that losing to her was a, what do they call it, a blessing in disguise. That's right. I feel like it forced me to Dig deep And never want to feel that feeling again It forced me to Look in the mirror and say Yeah You thought you were the best And you have the potential to be the best But you haven't gotten there yet So what are you missing to get there to be the best And from there it just ignited A fire in me that was like Kill, work hard Train, run so you can't breathe punch to you so your arms can't hold up no more i mean just go the extra mile even that though takes heart yes to bounce back from a loss yeah but even even to train like that well first of all to bounce back from a loss and to have that perspective that you had right like that's um a maturity that i'm not sure many would have had at your age then i definitely had a chip on my shoulder yeah from that but it was like the chip was like like I said it's me versus you so who can I be mad at because I lost to her right right you know it was like you can blame the judges you can blame the ref but at the end of the day it's still something you didn't do for you to win a fight so when I watched the fight back I said I shouldn't have got hit with that shot and how is that a metaphor for life I think the metaphor that I can think of off the top of my head is push yourself to your full potential, to your greatness.

27:45You know, I always tell myself, it's never enough. Everybody's like, you don't want five different divisions. You're four-time undisputed. You got 19 world championships. What else can you do? I'm like, you ever heard of 20 world championships? Right. Have you ever heard of three Olympic gold medals? Hey, 20, 28. It's coming up. What we doing, LA? Hey, I'm here. Representing this. Absolutely. We haven't won an Olympic gold medal in boxing since 2016. And that was your girl. That was me. I don't mean it. I'm just saying. So if the U.S. Olympic Committee want to let me know if I can come back and represent us again, defend my two Olympic gold medals, hey, I'll bust my butt to get down to 165, and I'll show you how to win a gold medal again.

28:35Again. In L.A. In L.A., I'm there. Well, I'm hoping to see that. Yeah, listen, me too. I would love to see it. That's why I'd be letting them know. I'd be calling them like, hey, I'm letting you guys know I'm interested. I want to represent my country again. You'll be listening.

28:52Steph McMahon:I know. Yeah. And listen, I feel like they need me as much as I need them. Yeah, for sure. So let's make it happen. Yeah, win-win. Win-win, that's it. Win-win-win. Win-win. Our partner on this show is Game Day Men's Health. And they would like to know, what is your reset strategy if you ever feel like you're running on empty? Just in general, training-wise, your body. I am like a super girly girl. I go and get my nails done. I go and get my hair done. I go and get a massage, hot tub, a sauna, steam room. I just take the whole couple days off and just be like nothing but recovery. That's great.

29:38Steph McMahon:That's important, right? And that gets me right back to where I need to be. Listen, I was a machine for a very long time coming up in amateurs, 11 till I think 18. I never got a massage a day in my life. I don't know what a massage is. All I've ever done was use ice. Yeah. Ice. So now when I got grown, you find out I bought these massages and you let somebody massage you like, oh, this is, oh, this is great. So I'm like super big on massages, super big on just taking the day to de-escalate and cutting the phone off, man. The phone drives you crazy. Yeah. Social media. Yeah. That's really healthy.

30:12Steph McMahon:That's how I reset. Yeah. Game Day Men's Health believes burnout isn't a badge of honor. It's a signal. Their personalized treatments help men stay focused, energized, and sharp for whatever life throws at them. Learn more at gamedaymenshealth.com. when I first started learning about you because I um am so inspired by you I'm in awe of you I just think you are such a remarkable human being um and what really drew me to you was your story with your grandmother yeah um so can you talk about your grandmother a little bit and and maybe some of the key lessons that she taught you oh man my grandma taught me so much I don't even know where to start And you lived with her from when you were 5 to I was 10 And I lived with her again 9th grade, 10th grade And then she passed when I was in the 10th When I was 15 But oh man My grandma taught me how to cook My grandma helped me learn how to talk I had a bad speech impediment I used to stutter really really bad I couldn't I could not get the words out But she was patient with me And did people judge you For your stutter?

31:28Yeah Yeah Yeah they judged me And bullied me in elementary school And that's where I developed My anger problem from People bullying me And then from there And if you can't talk If you can't use your words To fight back You use your fist You use your fist And that's what I was doing But I learned that One Listen I've always had A small tolerance To people messing with me So it's like when I started getting into fights, I would see that once you punch some people up sometime, they leave you alone. Yeah. It was like, that was my go-to. It was like, forget to talk to me because I can't talk anyway.

32:04But since you came over here and you pulled my hair, I'm going to fight you. Listen, I've thrown chairs at girls in school. I've been in police cars back in elementary school. My grandma. Did you just say police cars in elementary school? Yeah, the police was taken back to my grandma's house after getting into fights. And what would she say?

32:21Steph McMahon:Because now here you come in the police car. Coco, what happened now? What happened now, Coco? Now they're trying to tell her, like,

32:32she came and bought my work up and threw it in the trash, and then I was sitting there with my hair down. She came and pulled my hair. She called me nappy-headed. You know, my grandma was like, sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you. And I was like, but they do hurt. And her pulling my hair hurt it. Yeah. So I had to make her feel that pain back. But, you know, I think my grandma was a no-nonsense type of grandma. She did not allow me to cry. If I did cry, she'd say, go out there and sit on the porch until you get done. I used to cry because I have four siblings who stay with my mom, with three of them, plus me.

33:11And so, then with my grandma, it was like, now I'm the only child. There's no kids here. I want to go back with my mom. I want to spend time with my siblings. And I couldn't. So, when I used to get emotional about that, she used to be like, go outside on the porch I don't want to see you cry get on my face now I just go outside and do my little crying and when I got done I come back in she's like you want something to eat my grandma was very she was very loving yeah and very nice but she also just very stern yeah right she's old school yeah and that's what I love about her though yeah

33:46Steph McMahon:she understood surviving through her experience Yes. My grandma beat cancer four times before she passed. Wow. Yep, she passed from cancer. And, you know, you just don't get people like that. You know, you just don't get people like that. Like, my grandma, how she was able to teach me how to talk, to be patient with me, to tell everybody. It's like, she told everybody, she's like, she's not deaf and she know how to talk. She don't want to talk to y 'all. Yeah. You know, my grandma just was very just, she was very funny. And always supported me. She did me a big fundraiser when I was 15. We sold hot dogs with cheese and beef on them, some little dogs up in Flint, and to do me a fundraiser to help me go to one of my tournaments.

34:34And I just remember she used her food stamps to do it. She paid for all the food, brought all the stuff, put the table out there. And she was just right really big in our community. You know, she supported me and always told me to listen to my coach, Jason, whatever he say is right. because I'm not a person who thinks that nobody's right. I think I'm right. Right. Right? Of course.

34:55Steph McMahon:Well, especially when you're that young. Yeah, but I think even now it's like, you're right a little bit. That's your point. You know, but I think at a younger age, I definitely was like, nah, I'm the only one that's right. My way of thinking or no way of thinking. Right. So I just remember her telling me, like, listening to my coach and stuff like that. Did they meet? Did they have a relationship? Yeah, my grandma used to It's so weird People don't understand how small Flynn is So Spencer Street Is now Claressa Shield Street Really? Which is the street that I grew up on With my grandma That's so cool The way that guy works But if you walk right down Spencer Street, Burson is right there At the corner on North Saginaw It's right across the street Wow So my grandma used to stroll down the street with her cane And come and walk in the boxing gym And sometimes watch me train She had talked to Jason She seen me spar a couple times And she always was She didn't say much But she would look and you could just tell she was happy And that she was proud So my grandma, I could talk about it all day But you know, I seen her two weeks before she passed And she said, Coco When I die Tell them to bury me face down And I was like, what?

36:16And she was like Yeah So they can all kiss So they can all kiss my ass And I mean I was crying When she said it Right But I started laughing Yeah She said Coco I'm for real Don't be letting them come here And kiss me I don't mean I don't like these people And I just remember I always Like I always remember that Because that was the last time That I had spoke to her And then two weeks later She passed When I was 15 And I think Like her death Was so hard to her death was so hard to deal with for me that I didn't really try to acknowledge it until like, I don't know, like eight years later, you know, where I went to the gravesite and let off balloons.

37:04And like now we do that now, but it took some time. It wasn't until a few years ago I had to go to therapy, you know, because I hadn't grieved her. She's too hard to grieve somebody like that. Yeah. Oh. Do we have tissues?

37:27Steph McMahon:Yeah, she's. When people truly love you,

37:35Steph McMahon:I think in life that love is what matters most. And the people that really believe in you, they hold a special place. yeah

37:50we grieve her we celebrate her all the time now you know her birthday is November 6 we let off balloons she died December 21st do you feel her with you? yeah that's why I wear cocoa on my shorts because ain't no way I'm gonna lose in front of my grandma oh I love that She would not take losses. She don't take losses well. Me neither. But she would just, you know, you meet somebody who, you know, love you for yourself. Yeah. All your flaws when I couldn't talk, when I could.

38:33Steph McMahon:That's okay. Take your time. We have plenty of time.

38:51Steph McMahon:I'm sorry I didn't mean to do that to you no you're okay I think Club Shaysha did the same thing everybody keep asking about her well grandmas are so important she was very important I just think that for me me having to process it I processed it but it still like it hurt

39:20yeah she's telling me to go sit on the porch right now like go sit on the porch I was going to make that joke but I felt like it was that time but no my grandmas are really important you know she was my mother figure like I'm close to my mom now you know but I wasn't close to her growing up and she had problems yeah you know she dealt with her drug abuse Well, her alcohol abuse coming up. And my grandma was just, she was, she was there. When I moved back with my mom when I was 10, my grandma knew that we didn't have a lot of food. She'd come over there and bring us a box of food every week with grape juice in it, the cheese, the box of cheese.

40:04They don't even have that no more. Yeah. They're like, the box of cheese you can cut, it will have turkey, ham, bread, eggs. You know but without her we really wouldn't eat You know so my grandma still Found a way to always be involved And my birthday is St. Patrick's Day It might not be a big deal to y 'all You know cause it's St. Patrick's Day

40:24Steph McMahon:Well I'm Irish so I'm Irish so Okay it's a big deal But my grandma Treated St. Patrick's Day like Thanksgiving For me she would make me a cake She would cook a big old dinner You would think it was Thanksgiving Wow Yeah my So my grandma was You know she was just great And that's why I don't mind talking about her And letting the world know How great she was So her legacy keeps living on And um I try to be As good as a person As I can be Because when I die I want to see her It's not really about Down here on earth Because some people Need to get cussed out Punched in the face Kicked in the Like Listen You need to get it Karma not coming quick enough But I try to be a great person because I want to be, I think my grandma, I know my grandma went to, she went to heaven.

41:19And it's like, I want to go there so I can just reunite with her. So I try to, you know, let all these evil ways and anger ways go to be a better person, you know, so God can accept me in his good graces whenever it's time for me to go.

41:33Steph McMahon:That's beautiful. Yeah. What did you call her? Granny. Granny. Mm-hmm. granny but you know when you're around somebody so much sometimes you be like mom i mean granny yeah you know so um a lot of times she's like you can call your mom i'd be like yeah but you're my granny but but it happened so much to where it was like hey mom mom she'd be like i'm like oh grandma granny sorry and and why did you um get to stay with her versus your siblings or did they at some point? No, at the age of five, I was the R word by one of my mom's boyfriends. At five years old. Yeah, at five. And I told my Aunt Mary about it.

42:21My Aunt Mary told my grandma. And my grandma was like, she's coming with me. Because I guess at the time, it was my mom's boyfriend. And he had threatened to harm me for me telling on him. So my grandma was like, well, he can make all the threats he want to make, but he come over here, I'm going to light his ass up. So he didn't come over to grandma's house. I think it took two years for my mom to get rid of that guy who she was with. But I still didn't move back with her right away. It took five years. I was with my grandma until I was 10. Yeah.

43:03do you have um how do you get over something like that um i think talking about it you know i had when it when it when it happened to me at five when i had got when i had got raped i didn't understand what was going on when i was a kid i just seen i wasn't at the house with my mom no more. I had heard a few things about what had happened, but my grandma tried to protect me from all that, you know? And she just was like...

43:36Steph McMahon:You're so young. Yeah, and I think that for me, my grandma was helping me through so much, and then thank God I found boxing to channel some of that anger that I had. But, you know, it made me be scared of men for a long time. Be scared of people. You know, because I don't remember... I remember, like, I was I'm not gonna say I was friends with him But he's my mom boyfriend So I remember him Being nice to me Giving me popcorn Popsicles you know Sure And then the next day I just I just know He was hurting me So That They're Put a lot of trust issues in me When they like Come to people And so When I see people Who I'm You know Who I'm friends with Or something And then they go Bad Start treating you A certain way Or doing certain things When they show you Who you are Who they are That actually scares me So I run away from people like that.

44:26It's like if we're being nice to each other, we're going to be friends. We can be friends. But to be friends one day and then the next day the total opposite. Listen, I drop people like a bad habit, block that number. Good. Stop being friends with me because it's just scary to me. So for years I dealt with that. But talking to my mom at the age of 17 about it is what really helped me get through it.

44:48Steph McMahon:Because you hadn't talked to her about it. I hadn't talked to her forever. Nope. We never talked about it. It was like a unknown territory, you know. So I, we finally talked about when I was 17. I'm like, mama, listen, they are interviewing me. They asking me questions. They saying that I'm very ferocious and I'm dangerous as a fighter. They want to know where it comes from. They want to know about my childhood. What do I tell them? I just kept it short. Like, listen, I had a rough upbringing, but I'm the queen of boxing now, you know. But that's not good enough for some reporters. They want to know who you really are because you're so different.

45:25And I was like, I don't want to tell them this. Because me and her never talked about it. And I didn't want to make her look bad. Right. So when we talked about it, that's when she told me about, you know, about how she, I always grew up thinking that she didn't believe me, that she believed him, that he chose her side.

45:43Steph McMahon:Because she stayed with him. Exactly. So that built resentment in me toward my mom. So I always tell everybody, like, I love my mom, but I didn't like her. Yeah. For a lot of my teenage and child years, even at 13, 14, you know, I was like, I was back standing with my mom and then, but I was like, I don't mess with this lady. I don't like her. And, but I loved her. So up at 17, when we talked about it, that's where me and my mom became, we've been in our relationship and then we got better. Yeah. You know, but it just was we had to talk about it. And she let me know that she didn't not believe me that, you know, she just really she couldn't believe it for right.

46:27Right. Somebody that she was she was in love with at the time. He was starting to harm me. That's why I had moved with my grandma. So she was protecting me. Right. Right. And, you know, she eventually did get rid of him, but she never not once not believe me. Right. So I think that was my biggest thing. Why I didn't want to talk about it, because like if your mom, if I if I feel like my mom didn't believe me, why am I tell strangers? Right. Who don't know me about about my story so they can say that they don't believe me, too. So that's why I always just kept it to myself. And I buried it so deep in the back of my mind that I didn't forget that it happened.

47:08But I just knew it wasn't ever going to happen again. You know?

47:12Steph McMahon:Have you ever read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings? No. I think I've heard of the story a little bit. It's Maya Angelou's first autobiography. And there's a very powerful story that's similar. if ever you feel like picking it up. I'm going to have to go read it. It's a whole book? It's a book, but it's a very different type of autobiography and it's really beautiful and it's her story. I think it would resonate with you. Okay, I'm going to have to read it. I listen. So I'll be like putting the... Oh, I got the audiobook. I mean, I didn't read it. Because we don't be having time to sit down and read.

47:54No, I'm in the car listening to it.

47:56Steph McMahon:There we go. Yeah. That's me. I mean, reading is important and great. But yeah. It's very important. I listen too. Very essential. Reading is very essential. But everybody don't have time to sit down and read them. Yeah, that's true. And actually read them small letters and stuff. Especially when you're getting ready to do everything that you're going to do. Yeah. Yeah. So what's exciting you right now? Like what's on the horizon right now? Oh, my God. So many different things. So many different things. One, I've been a free agent for the past Since July 26th I've been a free agent I defended my undisputed championship At that heavyweight, I won Duh And then after that, I was a free agent So being a free agent in today's time It's great But it's very challenging Especially being a woman boxer So how so?

48:51I mean, one There's not many players in the game Right? Right. So you have to all these different promotions want to work with you now because you're a free agent. Right. Because you add value to their companies and they can add value to you. And you just have to look at these contracts and go back and forth with everybody. Even my old my old promoter and see who got the best deal, who who see the big picture that you see. And sometimes it's hard for people to see the big picture that the big picture that you see. Yeah. You're right. So for me, it was like. Someone to believe in your vision. Exactly.

49:29So I've been negotiating with all of them for months. And we finally came to a decision. What? Last week. Or I don't even want to say it was last week. Was it three? Three days ago? Three days ago? Yeah. Three days ago. So it was just like, I'm happy.

49:46Steph McMahon:That's great. That I'm finally off the market. It's kind of like being a single woman looking for a man. That's kind of what it feels like. Because you're like, okay, this is what he brings to the table. He brings this. He brings that. But wait. He's not. He has so many options. Right? He's not good at communicating, but he's good and bad. So that's how hard it was. It was like, yo. But it was the dollar amount for me. Recognizing who I am. Recognizing my vision. Knowing that I only want to get bigger and better. because I feel like my brand is bigger than boxing now. Yeah. It's way outside of that.

50:27I'm into music now and boxing and fashion and hair, makeup. I'm all over. So it's like boxing is just the start of it. Now I'm in these different realms. So some of these promotions only see you as a boxer. So they offer the money to you as just a boxer. But then you have promotions like the one that I signed with who see everything. And that's what you want.

50:51Steph McMahon:Yeah. So they see everything, they come with the bag. Bag. Right. You know? So the big deal that I got is that I signed for$8 million with Salida slash Wynn Records. Wow. Congratulations. Thank you. Show me the money! Is that the biggest deal ever for women's boxing? I believe so in women's boxing, yes. It's a two-year deal. $8 million. I get a few million next week Like a signing bonus Up front Show me the bag We just want to take the bag The suitcase Take something out of the bag And I'm just really excited about that Because I was like I had great offers from everybody I enjoy negotiating With everybody To see their mindset You know and everything But I think to have two Olympic gold medals 19 world championships, four-time undisputed, the only boxer in history to be four-time undisputed, I think eight million is warranted.

51:59And I've always wanted to be like this.

52:01Steph McMahon:And across three different weight classes. Yes. Like, I don't think people understand how challenging, I mean, in general, to have these athletes, but then also to fight at so many different weights. You know what? I think, to me, my weight classes that I won world championships at, are harder than the world championships in the lower divisions. In the lower divisions, they're closer together. You got 112, 116, 120. Not a lot of difference. You know, it's just a few pounds. Sure. 121, 126, 132, 140. Like, they're all so close, but then you get to the bigger weight classes and you got 160. Well, hold on.

52:46Let me go to 154 first. Then you got to jump six pounds to go to 160. Then you got to jump eight pounds to go to 168. You got to jump seven pounds to go to 175. And then 175 plus is 175 plus. Right. So you can be weighing 175, but the girl you're fighting against can be weighing 200. Right. 210. Right. No limit. Right. So in women's boxing, the heavyweight division is 175, 175 plus. so we just like that's what i feel is the difference between when i take over all these

53:17Steph McMahon:different weight classes yeah you know but so this deal and he he just left for a second but part of it your boyfriend helped bring to the table right because of the music side yeah can you explain a little bit how it's a different type of deal structure yeah so we all know who Solita Promotions is. That's Demetri Solita, a boxing promotion. He's been around for many, many, many years hosting these fights. And that's my first promoter that I've ever signed with. So I've been with him since 2016.

53:55Now, Demetri is a great promoter, but he's still working his way up. He still can compete with the other promotions, right? But when records bring Wynn Records. They have so many connections to all these different artists. They throw concerts all over the world throughout the year. It's ran by Ruben Branson. He's a multi, I don't even know how many, much million I can say. But Ruben Branson. And then we have PAP, who is the executive of Wynn Records. And PAP has helped elevate Wynn Records to a different level as far as in these concerts, the people that are performing these concerts, selling out 10 ,000, 15 ,000, 16 ,000, 20 ,000 people.

54:47Right. So they bring their knowledge of how to put butts in seats, the music industry, knowing all these different celebrities and having all these different contacts.

54:57Steph McMahon:And then bringing it all together. And then putting it with boxing, with the quote, it all works out. So as far as in like social media brand, like they know how to get the word out. Because I'm going to get the word out anyway. Right. You are. I've always been like a super self-promotion. I'm like, hey, you need me to post something? You need to make a video? I'm always like helping with the promotion. No, you got to hustle. You got to hustle. Because it's needed. Yeah, it is. Right. So I feel like all of us working together with Salita Promotions, Win Records, myself and Papoose, it all comes.

55:33That's how it all came together. You know, and, you know, Ruben seeing Ruben with Salita seeing the value of me, knowing that I just sold out Little Caesars Arena July 26th with 16 ,000 people. It's not many women I can sell at that arena. No, that's true. By themselves. Yeah. That was the main event.

55:53Steph McMahon:As the main draw. Yeah, like, I'm the main attraction. Yeah. Not the undercards and stuff. The undercards is cute. Sure. But it's not you. But the main, everybody want to see, listen, we all want the cherry on top. Mm-hmm. You know, yeah, you can give them a little cake, a little, you know. But the cherry, people are like, I really wanted the cherry. Why you took my cherry? Yeah. So I'm the cherry on top. Yeah. You're the main event. Right. I'm like the sugar on the rim of the drink. The drink is good, but you want the sugar. That's not wrong. I think you bring it all. Exactly. I think you're the drink and the sugar.

56:25Steph McMahon:Okay. Drink and sugar. The whole drink, the whole rim. You're all of it. All of it. All of it. The lychee. I love lychee. No, so for me, that's how everything just comes together. And that's how this deal was able to get made. So, I mean, this is, it's a new deal in so many different ways. Yeah. Right? And that's, I mean, it's incredible. Very, very incredible. I can't even think about what do you do with that much money? How do you spend it? Right. You'd be smart with it. Do you have financial advisors? Yes. Okay, great. Ones that you trust that are very credible. No, because not many people that I trust.

57:12So the girl I've been working with the past couple years is very, very great.

57:16Steph McMahon:Good. Very good. Because, you know, there are a lot of shysters out there. No, listen. And there will be more that will come around. I ran into one about five years ago. Tried to tell me that it cost, that I had to pay him$9 ,000 for him to even just file my taxes. And then I owed, he saved$45 ,000. I'm like, how does that work? You know, I can go right down the street to H &R Block and they'll find my stuff free. What are we doing here? Like something not adding up. Yeah, yeah. And then the excuse that they give you is like, oh, I did your personal taxes and I did your business taxes. And I was like, well, did you do any write-offs?

57:58Because why do I owe$45 ,000? Right. I mean, not even Trump pays taxes. He make way more money than me. Love Trump. I mean, I'm not going to lie. I like Trump. I don't know if I like him as a president. Right. But he's definitely a funny man. He's funny. He is funny. When he gets on the mic, I watch the video like this. You can't not watch. You can't not watch. And like, listen, he gave people stimulus checks and stuff. He's pretty cool to me. And I don't know. I don't agree with all his decisions, but do you agree with everybody's decisions? But like I said, if he was to do stand-up comedy or whatever, I would definitely be like.

58:36Steph McMahon:He's the main event. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's the sugar with the drink.

58:45He's the sugar with the drink.

58:47Steph McMahon:Big news WWE and sports fans The world's number one sports fan festival Fanatics Fest Is making its return to New York City Fanatics is bringing you closer to the leagues Teams, superstars and athletes you love Across four action packed days in July Meet your favorite WWE superstars Get your hands on exclusive merch Catch live podcasts And interact with the biggest names in sports Tickets go on sale November 13th, so mark your calendars and don't miss out. Full information at fanaticsfest.com. So how important do you think music and presentation are in boxing? It's a triangle, right? You have entertainment, you have sport, and you have music.

59:39It's this golden triangle That everybody Everybody wants to master They They want to put it together But sometimes They don't know how to make it all work Because it's all so different Sure You got sport where like the Okay for instance You got sport Myself Where the fighter has to Sacrifice Train Diet Stay locked in Right Yep And then you have entertainment Where It's like Yeah my Up in boxing I have to entertain a little bit, but my main focus is boxing, my sport. The entertainment part is the theatrics of it. The walkout, the dancers, the music you walk out to, the artists you walk out to. And then when you go to the music part of it, I feel like the music industry with their fans, music kind of connects us all.

1:00:34We all have so many differences, so many different cultures, beliefs, Bibles. But for some reason, we can all still like the same song. Yeah. Right? The same artist. Yep. So when you can figure out how to make this triangle work with the music, the entertainment, and the sport part of it, it's a really great triangle. And I think that you got to be a person in sport who understand those, who understand that you have to entertain a little bit. You have to be in music a little bit. You have to understand music, the music business, the entertainment business. You just got to be involved like this whole social media world.

1:01:12Listen, social media makes it where everybody can eat. You can figure out something that you can do on social media that can make you some money, get you some fans. So when you put all three of those together, social media on music, social media with entertainment, social media with boxing. I rap. Yeah, I didn't know that. What? Come on now. I was going to ask about that. Listen, I got some verses.

1:01:33Steph McMahon:Yeah. I like the Olympic, not Olympic line. There you go. She know my music. I was going to ask with the new deal if that means you'll be doing. Oh, yeah. You know what? I think that would be a little separate deal. But if Wynn Records wanted to sign me to a music deal. On top. Yeah. Another cherry. Another cherry. Yeah. I would definitely do it. Right now, I've released. I have three songs. I got Poked the Quote. I got IDJF2, Miss IDJF2. And then I have Pop My Shit, right? Which one's your favorite? Girl. Oh, and then I forgot about round one. So I got four songs. Okay. I have to say right now my favorite one is Miss IDJF2.

1:02:29I Don't Give a Fuck. Yeah, that one. But two? I Don't Give a Fuck two? Yeah, so Brie Biasi is a rapper from, where is she from? Indiana, but she lives in Atlanta. I love her music, right? And so she has a song called Miss IDGAF. That's why we're IDGAF2 Remix. Okay. Because she got Miss IDGAF, Miss IDGAF2, and then us together is Miss IDGAF2 Remix. and that's right at the Olympic line right there.

1:03:03Steph McMahon:I mean, do we do we want to hear some of it? Can you guys play some? I mean, I can rap a little bit. Let me go ahead and think about it. Okay. We can also play it. Yeah, yeah. Go ahead. So you don't have to do that. I mean, if you want to, that's cool, but you don't have to. I can rap along to it. I'll give you a little performance. Okay, yeah. Let's do it. See how fast he can be. Come on, Joe. Yeah, and my rap name is Rest of the Globe. So it's not Clarissa Shields So don't look that up Don't poke the quote Rest of the quote Phenomenal Oh, poke the quote song It's a lot of cussing in that I just love the title The title is enough Yeah, it's like This is what happens When you poke the quote She talks to you like this And I was talking crazy to some people Another way to express yourself Music I can't say this stuff In like You know, like a press conference Or, you know, like I still have kids Who look up to me You know So it's like music is like you can get away with saying certain stuff in music.

1:03:59You can't get away with saying it like up in a...

1:04:03Steph McMahon:No, there's many examples. Yes, it's a lot. Cardi B's like very much coming to mind. There's many, many lyrics that... It's her music, but if she's in an interview and then she says some stuff in her music, you'd be like, that's not right. Right, yeah. Isn't that interesting? Yeah, but I think that that's what music is for though. I'm Mrs. Put You In Your Place. Mrs. Stop A Bitch Clout. If she always popping it, I'm Mrs. Knock A Bitch Out. Mrs. Body Given T. Mrs. Never Took Olympic. Four times undisputed Mrs. Two Time Olympic. Mrs. Different Tax Bracket. Dumb hoe, I'm rich. Mrs. $90 ,000 bracelet on my wrist.

1:04:37Mrs. Younger Than You Old Bitches With Wagg Bars. Mrs. No Kids, Five Houses, and Four Cars. Mrs. Pray Before I Fight. Yeah, I study my Bible. Everything I do, they post. Mrs. Always Viral. I'm Mrs. IDGAF, Champion of the Year. You Mrs. GTFOH. Get the fuck out of here.

1:04:58Steph McMahon:All right. That's all good. Woo! Woo! That was awesome. That was awesome. You know, you got to push it out. That's right. That's right. I like going to the studio and just rapping and putting real facts on paper because I've never took Ozempic. Good for you. You know, and I'm not against somebody that do. Sure. I'm just scared of it. Yeah. I'm not going to lie. I tried. And I am one of the few people that cannot take it. I mean, was it working? I was sick. Oh, but it works, huh? Well, I mean, it works for a lot of people, but I was sick for three days. I did one of the versions. She lost a lot of weight right off the bat.

1:05:42Steph McMahon:Just because she was so sick. Really? I was sick. Like, yeah. Well, yeah. I don't want to be sick. I'll get my fat ass in the gym and run and diet and stuff. But I just feel like naturally, you got to embrace yourself naturally. But if there are remedies that can help you, I think you should definitely take them. But just look at all the facts, the pros and the cons and stuff. Yeah. Well, do your research. Yeah. Do your research. Always know and understand as much as you can before you make a decision. Which is one of the things I wanted to ask you about in terms of the young girls that you inspire.

1:06:16Steph McMahon:Right? And not necessarily young girls. And not just girls. Right? Like you inspire so many people. to keep fighting, not only for what they believe in, but for themselves. Yes. And what are, you know, there's so many different questions that come to mind, but what are some of your pieces of advice for, say, high school girls right now who are kind of in that place where you were at that time, you know, training for the Olympics? They don't necessarily aren't going to the Olympics, but they're training for something in their life. You know some of my biggest advice That I just give to teenagers Kids is don't be Like don't be afraid to be different You know I think we all love things that People we all love and do things That somebody else may see us do and be like That's not cool that's not good right And for me that's what boxing Was like I started boxing and People didn't approve of it You know I went to school with a black eye People laughed about it but it was Like I just knew that boxing was was it for me so i had to accept like don't be afraid to be different or don't be afraid to be judged and and i would just tell them too your life is about your your decisions you know i think that sometime when you come up in bad upbringings or even good upbringings and you have these parents right and you're and your parent is not is not all that you know like you're you You know, you got some kids who got great parents.

1:07:48Parents feed them, take care of them, hair, clothes, whatever. Then you have on the other end where it's parents who lack that or don't have the skills to do that or I don't even know how to put it. You know, just aren't mentally there yet. Right, right. To be a parent. And so it's like you go without. And I always tell them, just because your parent was an alcoholic or abused drugs or went to jail, it doesn't mean that that's the type of life that you have to have. You know, your life is about your decisions. And I feel like I knew that at a very young age that if I didn't want to be poor for the rest of my life, that I had to do something.

1:08:35Steph McMahon:Right. That I had to figure it out. and that you have the ability to do that no matter who you are no no matter who you are you you have the have the ability to figure it out you don't have to be stuck in your circumstances you know whatever you want to be right now especially when you're a teenager or a kid you can decide you want to be there right now and if you take the proper steps to get there you can accomplish that you know and that's something that i carry all the time is that make the right decisions i think that everyone is one decision away from changing their entire life yeah right so for better or worse right for better or worse but i always say for changing their life for the better it's like it's one decision where everything can be going bad but you make one right decision it'll go right like this i feel like some decisions people think about too long when they want to uh when they want to decide something They think about it for weeks and weeks and months and months And it's like, you gotta understand That opportunity is not gonna always be there Just like that shot in a fight Right Is not always gonna be there You gotta split second to get this shot off Right, and if you land it, you knock him out If you miss it Right You gotta try to make the opportunity again But why not take the shot Yeah When it's opening Right, so I just believe in that when hard work meets opportunity, that makes success.

1:10:10So it's like work hard, then the opportunity will come. And it's up to you what you do as an individual. As an individual, make the right choices. I always say don't drink, don't smoke. Right. It makes you impaired.

1:10:27Steph McMahon:Yeah. Period. You're smoking, you're drinking. If you're an athlete and you're smoking, it messes with your lungs. You know what I'm saying? If you're drinking, it messes with your liver, brain. And I'm just like, for me, it's like, if you want to do something, don't be afraid of putting your all in because you might not do it. Right. Like giving yourself like a way out, like an excuse. Yeah. It's like, go 100 % and see what happens. Nine times out of 10, you're going to win. You're going to accomplish it. And if you do lose or it doesn't happen, try again. And learn from it, right? Right. And I think some people are so scared of that.

1:11:11They're like so scared of trying something and seeing that it doesn't work. Scared to fail. And then trying again. Yeah. And it's like.

1:11:18Steph McMahon:They'd rather just not try and stay in their safe space. And that sucks. Yeah. That sucks. Then you're stuck. You never know what you're capable of. You're going to just live your whole life scared to take chances. and then before you know it you're 60 years old and you didn't miss that on life and you're like oh yeah well I could have been Golden Glove champion right everybody say that they're Golden Glove champion no I've heard I've met many everybody say that or like they could have been Golden Glove champion I'm like well which part of the Golden Glove did you win did you win the state the regional or the nationals there's three different levels now I can ask that question yeah See, they don't be knowing.

1:12:01I know. When you say you won the National Golden Glove, like, okay, take three steps. You got to beat everybody in your state first and beat everybody in your region. And then you got to go fight everybody, you know, who made it there from across the world. Right. And especially like in the U.S. So they be saying that they're Golden Glove champion and they be winning in a state and never making it to the actual regionals or nationals.

1:12:26Steph McMahon:Yeah. So all the Golden Glove champions, we see you. We see you. We see you. We see you now.

1:12:37Steph McMahon:This is a blind ranking. So I'm warning you, there's one red herring in here. What is this, like a blind ranking of what, boxing? I'm going to throw out five names, and you must rank them. Why don't you do this one? One through five in the all-time greatest boxing spectrum. You won't know who's coming next. So be careful where you rank them. All right. So the first one, Ann Wolfe. Oh, these are all women? Yes. All five women. Wow. I mean, can I? I know. It's just a weird. I don't want to spoil it. Am I on it? I knew you were going to ask that. You may or may not be. You know what? I'll go ahead and give Ann Wolfe two.

1:13:23Steph McMahon:All right. All right. Katie Taylor. Dang. Three. Amanda Serrano. There's five, right? Mm-hmm. Yep. Four. Layla Ali. Five. Clarissa Shields. One, baby! I was like, wait, so when you say Anne Wolfe, I say, oh, these women boxers? But that's a pretty good list. If you got me first, I do believe that Anne Wolfe is right after me. Next is Katie Because first of all Me and Katie have gone back and forth On the pound pound list for years So I've been number one for the last two, three years And then before that it was her And then before that it was me So we always switch So she says that she considered me and her 1A and 1B And I'm like that's actually fair I love Katie so I can share that with her Right So we have myself, Katie Amanda is a powerhouse No myself and Wolf, Katie, Amanda.

1:14:23I mean, maybe I would put Layla before Amanda if I didn't know that the thing was blinding. Right, right.

1:14:28Steph McMahon:Maybe Amanda before Layla. I mean, we've just heard some of the beef back and forth with the two of you. Do you think we ever will actually get the fight or no? You know what? That's what I will say about that. Remember when I told you about the whole one-on-one thing about boxing? Yeah. I don't like all this back and forth. It's been going on for eight years now. It's so long. Like, make your decision. So she was 40 when it started, or 39, right? Now she's 47. I'm 30. Yeah. So I know she feels that she's the best or that she can knock me out, whatever she feels, right? But if it's never going to happen, there's no need to keep going back and forth.

1:15:05So I don't think.

1:15:07Steph McMahon:That it's going to happen. I don't think it's going to happen because Layla knows she cannot beat me in a fight. I mean, if I was less skilled and less powerful, You know she's like bringing up Oh she got three knockouts And she got 21 or whatever the case may be But it's like you know that I'm a powerhouse You know I'm very skilled You know I'm faster than you by a long shot Like you know these things And I just feel like The fight is never gonna happen You know what I'm saying Which I'm cool with I'm cool with because there are other Fish There are bigger fish to fry And when I say bigger there are girls who have been active As long as I've been active They got world championship belts They're making money I'm making money We can make these fights happen Like we got girls like I don't think I'm the only girl in boxing That can beat Layla Ali in a fight I think there's plenty of us Like when I say plenty I mean like a Shadesha Green If she was to fight against Layla She'd be during the fight Savannah Marshall would be later in the fight I would be later in the fight French John Cruz would be later in the fight Like, it's plenty of Danielle Perkins who beat Layla Ali in a fight, and she's 42.

1:16:19You think in her prime? Now, in her prime is another question.

1:16:23Steph McMahon:Right. Right? I think in her prime, I definitely still would have beat her. Right? I think in her prime, Shadesha would have had a split decision with her going either way. Hmm. Because I'm looking at the skill set and the power and everything of it. Right. You know what I'm saying? Because Shadesha's actually a big girl. She's strong, whatever. I think even with Franchine, it would be like a split decision. because these girls kind of have the same attributes, right? And my attributes are just so much more than theirs. Right. You're the quote. I can say my opinion or I can say facts. If you watch the footage, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

1:16:55Steph McMahon:Well, your record certainly speaks to that. Record, the belts, the Olympic gold medals. Yeah, it all wraps up in the record. It all comes together. You know, it's everything. Exactly. Do you think she helped pave the way? I can't say that for me. She let people know that women's boxing existed, right? But as far as me fighting in the Olympics and everything, that had nothing to do with Layla Ali. That had something to do with Christy Halbert and Barbara Buttrick, who went to court to fight for our rights as women and fight in the Olympics as boxers. That's who paved the way for me. Now, Layla being a black woman who was boxing and the professionals of her being Muhammad Ali's daughter definitely put the world on notice that girls were fighting, right?

1:17:44Which is still big, but as far as in the amateurs, that didn't contribute to me.

1:17:50Steph McMahon:Yeah. And now, and I have to say it didn't contribute to me turning pro either because when Layla Ali fought, I don't know when her last fight was, but I know when I first turned pro and I fought on TV, a women's fight hadn't been shown on TV for 20 years. So that was actually hard. That actually made my career actually harder because now I have to show them like women's boxing has evolved. Right. I got two Olympic gold medals. I can really fight. Yeah. I'm excited to watch. Right? Right. And I went through so much criticism. Yeah. From my trash talk, from my look supposedly. I was too mean. I look too strong inside the ring It was all these different things It was like, well y 'all want a champion, don't you?

1:18:38Steph McMahon:Right So you want someone that's exciting to watch That you believe in, who can kick ass My Olympic story helped me turn pro Right, that's I believe that when Layla You know, when she came along And she came to meet me up in Colorado Springs I had just did something that was very great I had beat Mary Spencer Mary Spencer was three-time world champion in the amateurs. The world championships don't come around until every two years in the amateurs. So for the last six years, Mary Spencer was that girl who everybody thought was going to win the Olympics 2012. I fought against her when I was 17. At the Continental Championships, I whooped her ass.

1:19:20After that, everybody was flying out to interview me. It wasn't just Layla that came and put me on whatever platform that she interviewed me on or whatever. And you have to know that I idolize her because she's Muhammad Ali's daughter. Sure. Right? But I don't think that, well, I know she's not the reason for any of my success, but do I respect her as a woman who put the world on notice about women's boxing many, many years ago? Absolutely.

1:19:44Steph McMahon:Yeah. Do I think that she could fight? Absolutely. You can't say that a person who's 24 and over 21 knockouts can't fight. But when I watch the footage, I'm the better fighter. But that's because women's boxing has changed so much. Right. I have so much experience. Well, it's continued to evolve, right? Yeah, in 78 amateur fights compared to her zero. Right. So it's like I went all over the world and fought. Like, not just. Experience. Experience matters. And I fought girls who are way bigger, way stronger, and way faster than Layla Ali. But that doesn't, there's no disrespect to her. Sure. You know what I'm saying?

1:20:21It's like. Yeah. But I don't think the fight's ever going to happen. So we don't need to talk about it anymore. No, we don't need to talk about it. And I wish she would just go and be happily retired, right? Enjoy her cooking shows and sell her spices and stuff and have fun. And listen, I'll do all the fighting. Yeah. Okay, you can watch the fights or not watch them. Sure. One viewership does not hurt the viewership. And listen, I will continue to take us to the next level. That's why I'm signing this big deal,$8 million. dollars um biggest deal in women's boxing you know finally the quote gets paid all this hard

1:21:01Steph McMahon:work there you go the quote gets paid show me the money who is uh what boxer has inspired you the most like is there anybody you emulate or take from or you know as you were growing up Muhammad Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali. Yeah. That is, first time I looked in the mirror and said, I'm black and I'm pretty, was because I watched Will Smith play Muhammad Ali. And I thought Will Smith was really Muhammad Ali at that age. Oh, yeah. Yeah. He did a great job. He did a great job. He did a great job. Listen, I watched that movie. I don't think I realized until I was older. Because I didn't watch a whole lot of TV.

1:21:45But, you know, Will Smith is in so many movies. Yeah. And as I'm seeing these movies, I'm like, why is Muhammad Ali in movies?

1:21:53Steph McMahon:I didn't know he was an actor. I'm so confused. But then he hit me like, oh, dummy, he played Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali is a totally different person. That means he did a really great job. He did. He did great. But I have followed the whole Muhammad Ali story. I had read books on him. I watched movies on him. Just very inspiring. Yeah, he's amazing. Oh, man. Human being. Great human being. And just, he stood for something. You know, in today's time, people don't stand for nothing no more. Yeah. You know, they just fall for anything. I don't even know what to say. I just feel like he put his boxing career on hold for three years because he didn't want to go and fight in a war.

1:22:41And he didn't believe in it. Right. He chose to believe in his religion. He stood up for black rights. He was an activist.

1:22:51Steph McMahon:And he helped people. Helped people. Listen, I went to Muhammad Ali's home going in Louisville, Kentucky. And when I tell you the atmosphere in the city, like the whole city shut down and everybody would just celebrate Muhammad Ali. And I remember being like so emotional. And we went to Muhammad Ali's old house. I believe he has a street there or something like that. It's like a big old, it's a mural that's like in stone. And I remember everybody, I mean, everybody you can think of has a picture with Muhammad Ali. Everybody had one. Oh, Muhammad Ali, oh, this is him holding me when I was a kid.

1:23:30Oh, this is Muhammad Ali when I was 15, when I was 10. Like, he never told a fan no for a picture.

1:23:38Steph McMahon:Yeah. And I just was like, I have a picture with Muhammad Ali. Right? And I was able to meet him. Actually, I've seen it. Yeah, just a... I mean, just, you know. Probably recently. Yeah. But that's... But those things there are like... You don't meet people like that. And just what he stood for, the way that he talked back then when it was, hey, you couldn't talk like that being a black man. Mm-hmm. He wasn't scared of nobody. No. And he wasn't scared. Or if he was, he didn't show it. I don't think he was scared of nobody. You don't think so, yeah. No, and just like the way he rhymed too. Yeah.

1:24:12Steph McMahon:You know? Yeah. There was nobody like him. Trash talk like nobody's business. Trash talk and just his way of putting it. You know, he'd be like, I'm so fast. I cut the lights off and I was in the bed before it was dark. And funny. He was funny, too. He was very funny. Yeah, he was so quick. So I think Muhammad Ali was one of my fighters who I looked up to. Andre Ward, just a man of his word. You know, son of God was his nickname. And that's truly what he is. He's a son of God. He just never changed himself, like not even to get the big bags in boxing. He didn't go outside of his character to be somebody who they wanted him to be.

1:24:52He retired on his own terms, undefeated.

1:24:58And I don't know. He's just been like a huge, he's the last man to win a Olympic gold medal for the U.S. in boxing. And that's Andre Ward. Wow. So after him, it was me. Right. And I just remember I turned pro, and I think probably like my third or fourth fight. And, I mean, I was trash talking. I was telling these girls how I felt about them because they was definitely trying it. And I remember him calling me like, hey, sis, I'm just calling to check on you. You all right? I'm like, yeah, I'm good. He was like, hey, I've been seeing your interviews. You promoting these fights. He was like, listen, don't let them force you to be that way if that's not who you are.

1:25:40And I was like, what's me? And he was like, if you don't want to trash talk, you know, you ain't got to. I said, no, that's me. That's all me. He's like, oh, for real? I'm like, yeah. Ain't nobody telling me for nothing. No, they're telling me not to trash talk.

1:25:52Steph McMahon:Exactly. They're telling me to tone it down. Right? And I remember that phone call like it was yesterday. And I just remember laughing like, no, ain't nobody forced me to do nothing. Can't nobody really force you to do anything. Did he laugh too? He laughed because he thought that I was being pressured. Like, you've got to do this. And I was like, nah. These girls need to get talked to like that. These women are crazy. And he was like, oh, well, if that's you, then power to you. Go ahead. Right, right. Go for it. Go for it. Keep doing it. And I just remember that phone call because he just really wanted me to protect, you know, who I was and keep my authenticity and keep my rawness.

1:26:31And he like, and if they're trying to make you be a certain way and that's not you, I'm here to support you and let you know, go back to being how you were and don't let them pressure you. In which that talk actually helped me get to where I am now. And I say that to say that I am completely myself.

1:26:52Steph McMahon:Yeah. Right. And I don't try to conform to what everybody think is it or in, how they dress, how they talk, how they wear hair. Right. That don't matter to me. I want to be completely myself. And that phone call from him let me know to just do that. Like don't try to fit in. It gave you the permission to do that. Yeah. It was like just be yourself and don't let you be different because they've always said, oh, you should wear, you know, heels. You should wear this type of hair and wear that type of hair and this makeup and that makeup. And at the age of 21, being a two-time Olympic gold medalist, nobody cares about makeup.

1:27:30Right. Nobody cares about hair. We care about who work the hardest, who run the hardest, who sweat the most, who's in shape, you know, who win the most tournaments. So turning pro was a whole different light of things. And I've been able to balance it, but on my own terms. You know, up at first, I mean, I have put on some wigs and some clothes that others have told me to put on. I'm like, I had no business doing that. Are there pictures? Yes. It looks terrible. You know what? I'm having to send y 'all the picture. It's a picture with me walking out with Shakur Stevenson. He was fighting in, I think, L.A.

1:28:11And I came with this really curly, curly wig. Stupid pink dress.

1:28:19Steph McMahon:And it was just not you. I mean, I look at that picture and be like, oh. I think we all do that at different times. I know you looked in the mirror and you seen it and was like, this is not. No, I had to look at the mirror and say, this is not it. This is no, but I'm going with it. And then I wore it out and the pictures was everywhere for one. Oh God. And I just was like, never, never doing that again. But I had to come to support Shakur. And I was just like trying out all these different hairstyles because they're like, oh, this is what is in. This is what girls are wearing. I wore it. It's stupid.

1:28:55I think it was a stupid sewing or a wig. I can't even remember. It was just terrible. And I also got some makeup that I'm like, yo, I was better off going bare face.

1:29:08Steph McMahon:Well, I was going to ask, I think I read or I heard that you, like, will come out for an entrance made up. Yeah. But before the fight, you go back, you wash it off, and you want to fight. Yeah. You're not trying to look a certain way during the fight because you prove yourself in that ring. Yeah, listen, the entertainment part of it, right? You want I've been trying to Well I have mastered Them I've mastered the beauty And the beast So I show up to the fight I got my makeup on My lashes My hair You know I got the nice dress on With the shoes I pull up in the bins Wait a minute We pull up in a Rolls Royce Sorry Rolls Royce my bad And I get out And I walk And I think my last fight I gave a tribute to Beyonce say you know i wore a pink glove with the pink sparkly dress with the slit in it with the little silver shoes we need to see that picture yeah it's very it's very cute very demure and and i just but when i get back to the dressing room give me the makeup wipes wipe it off all of it um yeah let's get this wig off i got my braids under there they already braided and ready last fight my braids were not braided.

1:30:25You're not happy about that. So, well, the braids that were braided were not the braids for the fight.

1:30:31Steph McMahon:Okay. So I took the wig off and my hairstylist, Beattie, who's also my assistant, had to take down my real hair, comb on my real hair, and then we braided my hair in the back. I don't think she finished braiding my hair till 10, 20 minutes before the actual fight. Before I had to walk out. I probably had like five minutes to warm up after she finished braiding my hair. Did that affect your head game at all? No, no. But I just was like, I would rather have my hair braided before I get to the back. Yeah. I don't want to get my hair braided in the back room. I don't think I would ever do that again.

1:31:06Like do it in a room while we're at the hotel. But the reason it didn't get done at the hotel, I was really tired. The whole week promoting this fight, going to all these different events. I had a music listening party. I did the run with Detroit There you go There she is Me and my man, my man, my man Oh the gloves

1:31:32Steph McMahon:Oh that looks amazing Now you gotta pull up Beyonce picture That was worth it So that was Beyonce Renaissance 2000 Beyonce Renaissance 2000 2000. I don't want to get the date wrong. Yeah, that's all right. But you better find it. Beyonce Renaissance. It's going to come up. Yeah. She got a pink dress, pink gloves. Same thing. Same thing. Same thing. Same thing. Love Beyonce. I love that you did this. She got to walk me out. Yeah? She hasn't. She hasn't. No, she needs to. She needs to. Yeah. She walked me out. I'll probably never box again. We've been trying to get her to do something with us for a long time, too.

1:32:14Steph McMahon:Oh, yeah. Yeah. Woo! Yeah. Oh, honey child. Uh-huh. Queen B. Queen B. Yep. You see, my dress was exactly the same. The same. Yeah. Exactly the same. The two slits on the side. Yeah, I was thinking just one slit, but no. Did you do this? No. Lord knows. I would have tried had I seen this video.

1:32:39Steph McMahon:You need the fan. You know, the whole thing. Always need the fan. Yeah. Blowing your hair while you walk by. Yeah Because I can dance a little bit Uh huh I came out to be out there We know you can rap Hey Just saying Never know I mean I'm working on my rapping But my rapping is not great as my boxing So tune into my boxing Well it takes time It takes time And I've been working But it's just like You really have to like Master that Thank God I got Pap He's like a rap legend So how did you meet Pap? Me and Pap Who's met at Shakur Stevenson fight July 6th Was that the night of the outfit? Which outfit?

1:33:18The one that you just said you'd never do again? No, no. Oh, God, no. I thought that was the night of the outfit. No. But I did have on pink. I love my hair this day, actually. I had on pink. I had on some shorts. And around this time, Shakur was getting a whole lot of slack about his boxing. They were talking about he wasn't a good fighter. But Shakur is actually one of the greats who's going to go down in history as one of the best men fighters ever, literally, like, in my opinion. I believe he'll be pound-for-pound number one within the next four years. Like, Shakur is really great at boxing.

1:33:58But, no, Shakur was having – and they were kind of, like, talking about him or whatever, whatever. And I remember me reaching out, like, hey, I might come see a fight. He's like, please come. Like, I need you to come. I need you to be there. And him saying that, I said – I'm in.

1:34:13Steph McMahon:I'm in. So I was fighting two weeks later. Usually in camp, I don't travel nowhere. But for Shakur, I said, you know what? I'm going to go ahead and show up. And then there is where I met Pap. He walked up to me and said, hey, my name is Papoose. He shook my hand. And I was like, okay. He told me he was a fan. He watched me fight the Olympics and stuff. We took us a picture. It's like, you know how you know somebody, but you don't know them? So I had heard of him a little bit, but I didn't know the depth of him. I didn't know he was a great emcee Up in rap I didn't know he could rap The alphabet And can rap your name I didn't know that I just knew when he said his name I'm like okay cool And we took a picture And I invited him to my fight Because I was fighting two weeks later And you always want to have celebrities in the building When you're fighting But it was like I definitely took a liking to him I thought he was a good looking man.

1:35:14Right. But we started off as just like friends. We were texting a lot. I don't think we talked on the phone to about a month and a half of us just texting.

1:35:23Steph McMahon:Okay. So he did come to the fight, but then there wasn't, you still just kept texting and staying. Yeah. Yeah. We were, we were texting. We were, I would say really good friends. I had, I liked the way that we kind of started sending music back and forth because I wasn't really like big on my music because I had stuff like in my phone. I hadn't released any music Right Like that much But I told him like Oh you know I rap a little bit too He like well I rap And I You know Did 12 albums in one year And I was like What? And they're all named After a month So Pat Poose January Pat Poose March That's amazing February, March, April And so I started Listening to his music And he's putting Pat Poose In my phone In Apple And when I tell you So many songs Popped up Features All this stuff I'm like yo This dude really into music And he's really good it.

1:36:12Yeah, he is. Right. So I sent him to my stuff, which was, which was mediocre. And you're just starting. Yeah. Listen, very mediocre. And I remember him sending me like footage of him, like he boxes at the gym. Oh, him hitting the pads, him punching the bag and him. I was, you know, doing a speed bag and jumping rope. And I was like, oh, you're in a box and like, you're like, you're into it, into it. And that was another connection. Like not just the music and the poetry, but then also now we got the boxing. And he just invited me out to a date. I came to New York. We went on a date. Rest is history.

1:36:52Yeah, we've been locked in ever since. Like he's my best friend and he's my man too. Congratulations. Thank you. That's beautiful. He's a different type of man though. You know, it takes a lot to handle it. I can't imagine. I'm a full blown headache.

1:37:14Steph McMahon:I was going to say how cute he was smiling at you that whole time and you said it and he just lost it. He's like, yeah, that's true. Listen, I know I'm hard to deal with. So I definitely praise him for, you know, dealing with the greatest woman of all time. It can't be easy. Can't be easy. No, especially if I get mad. Oh, yeah. Give him a little look. Oh, he just backs right down. Right. No, no. The total opposite. Cause you know He gives it back He think he can fight too Right Right No He's a Golden Gloves champion

1:37:52That's so good That was a good one

1:37:58That's a real good one No he's He's a He's a real man So you know Real men Can deal with alpha women That's true You know so when you're a And people are like, what is an alpha woman? I hate those guys. It's a woman who's very strong. It's okay. And when you're an alpha woman, you have to have an alpha man. So he don't agree with everything I say. He's stern about certain things too. Very high on respect, how we speak to each other, how we communicate. That's important. We talk every day. We haven't missed a day of talking to each other since, I don't know, I want to say like July. I want to say too early of a date We haven't We haven't missed a day of like Knowing what each other was doing Or like texting or whatever The case is like Like early August And that was last year Yeah last year Like haven't missed a day If we're not together We're on the phone talking If we're not talking we're texting It's like we're always in each other's lives somehow And if we're not texting, we're sending each other reels back and forth, which is very romantic.

1:39:11I mean. Yeah. That's how I communicate. I'm too old.

1:39:14Steph McMahon:Most days. I mean, Triple H's probably not on his phone that much. Well, he is, but we're not doing reels, though. What are you doing? Reels are funny. But we're in touch every day. Okay. You know, and he's on the road all the time, and he's a real man, too. I know what you mean. Well, he has to be a real man to deal with a real woman. That's true. The first day I met Steph, she was just, you could just tell. You're like so like secure, powerful, strong. It's like she's like, yeah, I'm a bad bitch and what? I'm strong too. I'm in the presence of a bad bitch. Well, there's nobody like you, Clarissa.

1:39:53Steph McMahon:I mean, I'm just, I'm so excited to have you here and as a part of this podcast and so excited to help share your story. Yes, thank you. And to help promote your fights and your music and anything that you're doing, you have our full support. Thank you so much. And just I love who you are and what you stand for. Like when you're talking about the fighters who've inspired you, it's you're not really talking about them technically. You're talking about their character. Yeah, that's what matters. And that's what matters. And that's what I feel so much from you. and for you to have gone through so much and to be who you are sitting here.

1:40:33Steph McMahon:You know, take it or leave it. This is who I am and I'm taking over the world and it's amazing and it's a privilege. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so happy that y 'all had me here. We got some good laughs. We did. Got a couple tears out of me. I should have went on the porch. This is great. So I'm fighting January 24th. 24th. State Farm Arena. State Farm Arena. Baby, how many thousands people going to be there? 22 ,000 people. Listen, we need butts and seats. If you love the quote, you want to see me get down in action. We got to show up in support. Yeah, show up in support. Bring your cousins, your uncles, your aunties.

1:41:15Everybody. Boyfriends, girlfriends, come on. Come on. Yeah, yeah. The whole entourage. Yeah. You are going to get a show. You're going to get entertainment. and you're gonna get boxing because I'm gonna give you a great show and you're gonna get music. You never know who I might walk out with. You never know. Never know, Beyonce. Hey. Hey, I like how y 'all was in unison. Yes. Right there. Trying to make it louder. Yeah, because we all love Beyonce. Anybody ever say that they don't love Beyonce they got a real problem? I think so too. It's like how could she not like Beyonce? She don't respond to nothing.

1:41:52No rumors.

1:41:53Steph McMahon:She's the boss. She can sing, she can dance, she can rap. I mean, and she's sexy as hell. She's brilliant. She's everything. Beyonce is everything. She's queen. Queen B. Queen B. That's right. But she's not the quote. No, she's not. She's not the quote. If she ever wants to learn how to box, I'm who you come to. That's right. I teach you. There you go. You teach me how to do some of them dance moves. Because she needs those for her music videos. Exactly. Yes. I'm right with you. Her next deal. Yes. Listen, when I beat Savannah Marshall, I came out dancing on that hoe. There we go. There we go.

1:42:29I came out dancing on her ass.

1:42:30Steph McMahon:You could dance over her when she's down. I did, though. You got to look it up. It was a video. I came out there. Oh, I love it. I love it. Ted up, baby, Ted up. All across the world, we going to Ted up. I'm telling you, I came out dancing on her ass. And then we got in there and we rumbled. Oh, good for you. Good for you. That's awesome. Well, January 24th, we're there. Yes. And congratulations again on the huge announcement. Thank you so much. I have$8 million deal, Salida and Wynn Records together. I think I'm very, very fortunate in still being a trailblazer and a pioneer in women's boxing.

1:43:11And hopefully when I'm done boxing, the girls coming up behind me will have it easier. They'll be able to get$2 million way faster than I got there. and I think boxing will be in a better place. We'll be hearing about a girl signing for a$20 million, a$50 million deal. Love that. Love that. But$8 million is a great start.

1:43:31Steph McMahon:Yes, it is. Damn great start. Thank you, Salita and Wynn. All right. My people.