Shields: To beat me, you have to kill me

By Brad Snyder

More quotes from Tuesday’s Shields-Gabriels press conference.

Claressa Shields:

[On the fight]  “I really hope Hanna has trained hard. Because it’s not going to be an easy task. And I really hope Christina Hammer has trained hard. Because in the future, it will not be an easy task for her. To beat me, you have to kill me. I am not going to go down.”

Hanna Gabriels:

[On if Shields has power] “We will see. We will see what her power is. If I feel that she could knock me down, I will be more careful. But if I feel like I can handle it, I will go all the way through. I think when you fight, you have to be smart. You have to adapt to the conditions that fight is presenting at that time.”

Christina Hammer:

[On what she felt about Nelson’s performance vs. Shields in January] “She goes forward with her head. You have to use this to stop her. I think the distance will be good. I think I can use my distance That is the key.”

[On being matched already down the road with Shields] “I think she is looking forward to it more than me. She is not as focused on Gabriels as she should be. I am now focused only on Nelson. I am only focused on beating Nelson.”

Tori Nelson:

[On what she thought of Shields when she fought her] “Her skills are phenomenal. I went up in weight class to fight the best. Her skills are on point. She does not have much power. But she has enough skills to overcome that.”

[On exposing Hammer] “Hammer does what she is supposed to do with her length. She jabs, then she runs. I’m going to make her fight me. You have to. We are going to see if she can fight on the inside, which I see that she can’t. She likes to hold a lot and run.”

Salita Promotions presents Shields vs. Gabriels for the IBF and WBA Middleweight Championship June 22nd on Showtime at 10pm Eastern time. Tickets are available at the Masonic Temple’s box office, (313) 832-7100 or www.ticketmaster.com. Plenty of tickets are available. Prices range from $35-300.00.