Claressa Shields made a rare emotional plea on social media as she let her tough-girl persona fall by the wayside to tell her followers she’s ‘human and has feelings too’.

The post came in a series of tweets that revealed an upcoming bout, with an unknown opponent, had fallen through. Shields has not entered the ring since January of this year when she beat Ivana Habazin by unanimous decision.

She wrote on Twitter: "I feel like I owe my fans some kind of explanation to why I’m not in the ring fighting and everyone else is... so It’s that I’m not ready for a fight. I’m in shape I’m ready. Just a lot going on with Covid and a lot with these boxing networks who put women last. 

“So I’m being Patient and staying in training. But I’ve been made promises with fight dates & they turned out to be lies. So........ yeah. When I hear news I’ll let everyone know.”

Shields added she is fight ready.

"I’ve been training for months. Eating right for months. Contracts have been signed, phone calls have been made and it’s just like soon as it’s almost done or close to whatever date was promised things fall thru. I can’t go into detail but that is the gist of it. Out of my control.

"If 2020 isn’t my year..... I’ll Just have to look forward to 2021. And rather y’all know it or not. I’m human and I have feelings too. So I’m feeling disappointed & sad.

“I’ve been boxing since I was 11 yrs old. I’m 25. I’ve given my whole life to boxing. So to be experiencing these kind of things are not normal for me. Just tryna fill last shelf.”