Alycia Baumgardner Talks Claressa Shields Rivalry, Next Fight with MVP and More in B/R Interview

Before she attempts to become a two-division world champion on Sunday night, Alycia Baumgardner has put her rivalry with Claressa Shields firmly behind her.

Following a backstage altercation in May that resulted in Shields being banned from all Most Valuable Promotions events, Baumgardner said she's leveled up to new challenges.

"I'm doing my thing. She's doing her thing. And that's that. … I have so much bigger fights to entertain than her," Baumgardner told Bleacher Report. "Again, I'm in my own lane doing my own thing, creating my own stage, and she can't even fit. I don't even see her fitting on that type of stage with me."

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That level of confidence is why the unified junior lightweight champion already adamantly feels like she is the face of women's boxing, even before she challenges IBF lightweight champion Elif Nur Turhan in the main event of MVPW-07 on ESPN on Sunday night.

"What makes me the face of women's boxing already is what I'm doing and how I'm doing things," Baumgardner said. "I came into this game as the underdog, and I still feel like I'm that underdog. I'm setting the stage of fighting three minutes. I'm setting the stage of bringing hooks and looks to the stage, the beauty and the beast, the femininity. I am the weigh-in. People look forward to Alycia Baumgardner's weigh-in. When it comes to my hairstyle, the heart that you see everybody wearing, AB started that. Alycia Bumgartner started that. Coming with the fashion, high fashion, I started that. That's who I am, my identity and what I'm shaping to show women that you can be a beauty and a beast, and when it's time to do what you gotta do, you can do that."

Unbeaten since 2019, Baumgardner (18-1, 7 KOs) is setting a new precedent by fighting under men's rules with three-minute rounds. Her fight against Turhan will be contested in 10 three-minute rounds, and she previously fought under 12-round men's championship rules in the co-main event of Netflix's Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua fight card last December, becoming just the second female unified champion in history to defend her titles under those rules.

"For me, it's important because I love the challenge. I love that this is something that I'm able to do. This is something that I'm able to set a standard for myself. And again, this builds my resume. So when we go back and we talk about Alycia, why was she so good? Or what did she do different than some? She stepped up to the plate," Baumgardner said. "... This next fight is three minutes once again, and I also think it fits my style. To have to rush in two minutes is a bit annoying, so three minutes really breaks down the fighter. And I'm a fighter with skills, I have a toolbox, and so it's nice that I can break down a fighter. Just as if you were watching a men's match, you see how they break them down and how they build to get that knockout. And so that's what I'm doing."

However, the 32-year-old admitted that she doesn't see three-minute rounds becoming the norm in women's boxing anytime soon, because not everyone is built like her.

"It's a great question. It's not a standard for everybody, I have to say that. Not everybody can fight three minutes, I don't expect people to. But this is what I'm doing, and this is what I'm doing to set myself apart," she said. "And that's what's nice about boxing is that you don't have to be like everybody else, you can set yourself apart. And that's what I've done my whole career and continue to do, to set the stage for myself."

Despite being undersized against Turhan, Baumgardner's confidence level remains high. While she isn't overlooking her opponent, she feels she will be the faster and more polished fighter when they meet in the ring.

"I've accomplished everything that I wanted at 130 [pounds]," Baumgardner said. "And as a businesswoman, this was the best business move to do. And so moving up to cement my legacy, my resume, who I am as a fighter, this fight will show why I'm the face.

"The only challenge that I see is that she's wild," she added about Turhan. "I have to make sure that I'm going to protect myself as well. It's easy to get hit behind the head and those types of things because she has no fundamentals. So I have to make sure that I'm sharp, I'm composed, I'm using the ring, I'm punching in between her punches, and every time she misses, she will pay."

As for how far up she'd like to move, Baumgardner said she could see herself conquering another weight class and becoming a three-division world champion.

"You know, I wouldn't mind to move up to 140. I think 140 would be the next weight class," she said. "I'm focusing on 135, but I think 140 could be the next one."

Baumgardner will be looking for her first finish since 2021, and she has a simple prediction for how Sunday's fight against Turhan will end.

"My prediction is a knockout," she said.