Claressa Shields has made it a habit of doing the undoable. The two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-division world champion has seldom been the underdog in her boxing matches, but she has repeatedly left her skeptics in stunned silence with the feats she achieves. 

“I’m a person who does the impossible,” Shields told Just Women’s Sports. “Like when I won the Olympics twice for America, I was the only American to ever do so, back-to-back. They said it was impossible. I did it. 

“They said it wasn’t possible for anybody to become a three-division world champ faster than [Vasiliy] Lomachenko. He did it in 11 fights, I did in 10. Boom.” 

“Being a woman in boxing, we’re not treated good,” she added. “Also being a Black woman: how they stereotype us and how they portray us from the beginning makes it hard for us to be successful in our fields, and I’m one of the best woman fighters ever.”

Shields’ appetite for seemingly insurmountable challenges not only helped her conquer the boxing world, but drove her to seek out new tests in an entirely new sport: mixed martial arts. 

The pugilist put pen to paper with the Professional Fighters League (PFL) late last year and made a successful MMA debut with the promotion in June, rallying to defeat the amply more experienced Brittney Elkin.  

“They said no boxer could transition into MMA and win against a person who’s good at BJJ [Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu] or good on the ground,” Shields said proudly, looking back on her debut. “I did it again: third-round TKO over Brittney Elkin.”

Shields’ next MMA bout is Wednesday. She’ll look to make it 2-0 against Mexico’s Abigail Montes at an October 27 PFL event in Fort Lauderdale, which will also feature a whopping six world title fights.

Shields knows she has a dangerous opponent on her hands but is confident her diligent training will serve her well.

“I think it’s a good matchup,” she said. “She’s mostly a striker with punches and kicks. From the fights that I’ve seen, she likes to be the bully. She likes to push forward and push girls back and beat the girls up. I’m excited for her to try that against me, because I don’t let nobody bully me in a fight.

“We’ve listened to her interviews and she said she’s basically going to out-strike me,” Shields added, oozing confidence. “I can’t wait to see that happen.” 

If Shields defeats Montes on October 27, it will set her up for more tough challenges in the PFL cage. If her success continues thereafter, she may ultimately earn a shot at the promotion’s lightweight title, currently the property of two-time Olympic judoka and unbeaten mixed martial artist Kayla Harrison. If Shields wins that title, she’ll be able to call herself a two-sport champion, and one of the greatest fighters in the history of combat sports, period.

As ever, her mission looks almost impossible from the outset, but she believes it can be accomplished. 

“I feel like becoming the PFL lightweight champion is very, very possible,” she said. “I know there’s some girls standing in my way right now, the main one being Kayla Harrison. She’s like the top tier [in MMA]. I’m very respectful of her and her skillset, and of her being the champion, and how hard she works. That’s why I’m working very, very hard to be on that level, so when the time comes for me and her to fight, or for me and any of the other top-ranked girls to fight, it’ll be a very, very competitive fight and it’ll be worth the fans’ money.

“It’s not impossible, and that makes me very happy,” she added. “I’m just enjoying the process.”

Amazingly, two-sport glory isn’t where Shields’ ambition ends. She also has eyes on other industries, with big plans percolating behind the scenes.  

“I still got a lot of work to do,” she said. “I’ve got a lot of dreams to accomplish that people don’t know about. I got stuff I want to do in music, stuff I want to do in modeling and movies.”

Shields’ ambition knows no bounds, but many of her goals seem to hinge on the outcome of her upcoming matchup with Montes. She isn’t big on specific, pre-fight predictions, but it’s fair to say she doesn’t see her habit of conquering massive challenges faltering now.

“I’m not even going to put that kind of pressure on myself, to say third-round, second-round, first-round knockout,” she said. “I just know that I’ve trained harder for this fight than I did for my last fight. I’ve changed a lot of things up. I feel a lot healthier, a lot better, a lot more focused, and I have a lot more support this camp than I did last camp. I feel good.

“I’ve come a long way and I can’t wait to display that.”

Tune in: Watch PFL 2021 on ESPN2 October 27th at 4:30pm ET. Learn more about the event and additional ways to watch here. 

The grass court chaos of Wimbledon didn't disappoint this week, as the unpredictable surface claimed more than one surprise victim in the 2025 Grand Slam's first round.

A full 10 of the London tournament's 32 seeded players fell in the competition's first round, including four of the WTA's Top 10: World No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 6 Qinwen Zheng, and No. 9 Paula Badosa.

"I should just play no tournaments, get no wins, then roll into Wimbledon, and maybe I'll have better results," US star Pegula joked after her two-set Tuesday loss to Italy's No. 116 Elisabetta Cocciaretto, referencing her recent wins.

Gauff's short Wimbledon outing also represented a new challenge for the 21-year-old standout, as the top-ranked US tennis player struggled to bounce back after winning the 2025 French Open last month.

"I feel like mentally I was a little bit overwhelmed with everything that came afterwards," Gauff told ESPN. "So I didn’t feel like I had enough time to celebrate and also get back into it."

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The upsets continued as Wimbledon entered its second round on Wednesday morning, claiming several more seeded players like world No. 5 Jasmine Paolini and No. 15 Diana Shnaider, though both No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and unseeded fan favorite Naomi Osaka cruised into the Slam's third round on two-set wins.

No. 8 Madison Keys now leads the US contingent, with fellow US contender No. 12 Amanda Anisimova joining the 2025 Australian Open champion in snagging their own two-set, second-round victories on Wednesday.

How to watch the 2025 Wimbledon Championships

Second-round play at the 2025 Wimbledon women's singles tournament continues on Thursday, as seven US players — including No. 10 Emma Navarro and No. 28 Sofia Kenin — look to advance to the competition's third round.

Live continuous coverage of the London Grand Slam airs on ESPN.

The world No. 1 USWNT will close out their summer international break against a familiar foe on Wednesday night, facing North American rival No. 8 Canada for the first time this year.

"It's never friendly, you know? It's always like a final," US midfielder Sam Coffey told media earlier this week. "We all know each other super well."

"I'm really excited to be a part of it again for our younger, newer players," she continued. "I think it's going to be a huge learning opportunity on what representing this crest means."

The Northern neighbors are the USWNT's most frequent opponent, with the US entering the pair's 67th meeting with a 53-4-9 all-time record against Canada.

Wednesday's matchup will also mark Canada's first US clash under new head coach Casey Stoney, who joined the team in January following her abrupt June 2024 dismissal by the NWSL's San Diego Wave FC.

As for US boss Emma Hayes, she'll be looking for yet another refreshed set of starters on Wednesday after swapping out all 11 players between the team's two friendlies against Ireland last week.

"It's a testament to players and staff alike that we can rotate to different groups like we did last game, and everybody's understanding [the tactics] to varying degrees," Hayes said on Tuesday.

With months to go before the next USWNT camp in October, Wednesday's showdown serves as the last chance for bubble players to prove their worth, all while the team aims to cap the summer window with a big win over their longtime rivals.

How to watch the USWNT vs. Canada on Wednesday

The USWNT will cap their three-friendly summer break against Canada at 7:30 PM ET in Washington, DC.

Live coverage of the clash will air on TNT.

The Indiana Fever lifted their first trophy since 2012 on Tuesday night, winning the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup with a 74-59 upset victory over reigning Cup champs Minnesota — all while injured star guard Caitlin Clark watched from the sidelines.

To snag the win, Indiana leaned on balanced scoring, with forward Natasha Howard's 16-point, 12-rebound double-double leading the Fever's five double-digit shooters.

At the same time, the Fever employed a shutdown defense, limiting the Lynx to their lowest point total of the season.

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Beyond the $500,000 payout, Tuesday's win gives the 8-8 Fever a momentum boost as the team continues contending with both high-profile departures and the limited availability of their floor general.

"We have a resilient group, you know?" Indiana head coach Stephanie White said after the game. "They're tough, mentally and physically, they pull for one another. I'm just really proud."

"It felt good to get a win under gut-check circumstances," echoed guard Kelsey Mitchell. "To have so much going on and still stay consistently for each other, it was beautiful. It felt really amazing."

As for the league-leading Lynx, the Commissioner's Cup loss won't impact Minnesota's regular-season WNBA standings — and they’ll hope to build on the learnings from last night's ego blow.

Minnesota also has a bit of history one their side, as the last two Commissioner's Cup runners-up went on to win the WNBA Championship in the same year.

"We have to take this game to heart and learn from the mistakes we made, the way we showed up, the way we prepared, and make sure we don't do it again," said Lynx center Alanna Smith.

How to watch the Indiana Fever, Minnesota Lynx this week

Neither 2025 Commissioner's Cup contender will have much time to reflect on Tuesday's game, as both Indiana and Minnesota will dive back into regular-season WNBA play on Thursday.

The Fever will host the Las Vegas Aces at 7 PM ET, airing on Prime, before the Washington Mystics visit the Lynx at 8 PM ET, with live coverage on WNBA League Pass.

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham turned heads on Tuesday, criticizing the latest WNBA expansion plans in light of ongoing WNBPA CBA negotiations.

Cunningham drew ire from some fans after expressing skepticism about the WNBA awarding expansion teams to Detroit and Cleveland over other possible cities, while also suggesting that the league might be growing too quickly.

"You want to listen to your players, too. Where do they want to play?" she told reporters ahead of Indiana's Commissioner's Cup win. "I'm not so sure what the thought process is there, but at the end of the day, you want to make sure that you're not expanding our league too fast."

"It's kind of a hard decision-making situation. But man, I don't know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or [Cleveland]."

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Elsewhere, Phoenix Mercury forward Satou Sabally also voiced her expansion concerns on Tuesday, calling on the WNBA to keep player support at the forefront when adding expansion teams.

"We really have to put an emphasis on the players that are in our league right now," she told reporters. "Maybe focus on the teams that find excuses continuously to lack investment in their players before we focus on adding more to the grain of people that can't really be sustained."