Undisputed middleweight champion in boxing and new PFL signing Claressa Shields has backed Jon Jones to be successful should he choose to transition to heavyweight boxing.
Shields has been training with Jones ahead of her eagerly anticipated MMA debut. The 25-year-old signed with the Professional Fighters League last month and has been working hard at the world-famous Jackson-Wink MMA Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico
After spending “countless hours” training with Jones, Shields insists she is confident with the right training the former UFC light-heavyweight champion could be a dangerous division to the boxings heavyweight division which is currently ruled by British duo Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.
“I can see Johnny Bones making a transition from MMA to boxing. Heavyweight boxing,” Shields told Heavy.com. “That’s what I see. I don’t see WWE. To me, that’s more like a clown show, the WWE. Johnny Bones is a serious person especially when it comes to training and his teaching. We’ve had two classes where I spent countless hours with Johnny Bones and he was teaching me and breaking stuff down that looked so complex, but breaking it down into 1-2-3-4, breaking it down into steps from the beginning. So I look at him as a serious guy. So if I was to show (Jones) what I know in boxing and show me what he knows in MMA, I believe that when he learns these simple basics with his hands and how to stand. Aw man. I think he would be so freakin’ dangerous in boxing because he’s really just, inside that cage. I mean, we all seen it. He’s a dangerous guy.”
Jones is currently preparing to step up to heavyweight for the first time in his impressive MMA career. ‘Bones’ is in the bulking up stage and will likely face the winner of Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou II for UFC gold in summer 2021.
Do you agree with Claressa Shields? Could Jon Jones successfully transition to heavyweight boxing?