Claressa Shields, who only recently made history by becoming the first women’s undisputed champion at heavyweight, is facing one of the most arduous tribulations of her career after a mouth swab test by the Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission (MUCC) resulted in the champion being suspended for allegedly taking marijuana.
The charge already appeared quite steep given marijuana, while banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), is not considered a performance-enhancing drug. However, WADA employs three criteria that determines whether a substance is prohibited:
- the potential to enhance performance
- the health risk it poses to athletes
- whether it violates the spirit of sport
According to WADA, the use of marijuana boils down to the second and third criteria’s, with the first criteria of it being a performance-enhancing drug not in any way included when the substance found itself on WADA’s prohibited list in 2004.
The main issue, however, is the inferior drug testing conducted by MUCC and the overall stance by one of Michigan’s main administrators, Linda Clegg ― the Director of the Corporations, Securities & Commercial Licensing Bureau of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs of the State of Michigan, who has vilified Shields as an “imminent threat” to boxing according to a letter from the WBO due to her apparent conduct outside the ring.
In a previous article, Clegg’s claims were analyzed and no identifiable reason could be found for her claims to be anything but a personal vendetta based on reasons still unknown. As an athlete, Claressa Shields not only has a proven track record of being a clean fighter but has participated in the sport since she was young; as illustrated in the recent movie highlighting her amateur career, The Fire Inside.
While controversial in boxing due to a multitude of statements she made, Clegg’s accusations regarding Shields’ conduct remains vague as it does not substantiate on exactly what sort of conduct would make Shields a danger to the sport of boxing. This is especially egregious given the multitude of Shields’ accomplishments in both amateur and professional boxing, which has arguably made her the most decorated female fighter in United States history.
The Michigan Commission’s seeming witch hunt against Claressa Shields has also not gone unnoticed by other organizations with the president of the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC). Michael Mazzuli, having criticized the commission and urged it to show proof of any findings of deliberate marijuana use by Shields.
“We would like to know what the amount of marijuana in the system was – the nanogram level,” Mazzuli told BoxingScene.
“My understanding is it was a swab test – therefore, there is no nanogram level.
“We feel the fighter should not be stripped of any title. In fact, numerous states and tribal commissions no longer test for marijuana, and mine [the Mohegan Sun (Connecticut) commission] is one of them. The sport has to change with industry and today’s standards.”
Mouth swab tests are considered an inferior method to detect marijuana, not only due to it not taking into account the effects of second-hand smoke but also due to WADA’s own standards of drug testing which mostly considers urine and/or blood tests the standard for drug testing. Their threshold for an actual offense for using marijuana is 150 ng/ml, while the MUCC’s threshold is limited to just 2 ng/ml. Shields’s oral swab test reportedly found her testing positive at at least 3.4 ng/ml, though research has indicated more than 10 times that amount could still be a result of second-hand smoke. This was also mentioned by Shields who admitted to have interacted with fans that were allegedly smoking marijuana following her February 2nd win over Danielle Perkins.
The MUCC’s controversial actions did not stop the WBO, whose title Claressa Shields currently holds, from issuing a “show cause” notice to the American fighter ― though it now appears they have delayed this order after a representative from Shields requested a delaying of the WBO’s notice as Shields’ team will be looking to rescind the MUCC’s suspension.
“On February 21, 2025, the WBO World Championship Committee received an email communication from Mr. David Andrew Slutsker, on behalf of the subject matter fighter, requesting a stay of proceedings to respond to the “Show Cause” notice letter issued by this Committee on February 20, 2025,” The WBO’s statement reads.
“Team Shields stated that they are currently awaiting a meeting date with the Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission to seek a revocation of Ms. Shields’ suspension. Accordingly, Team Shields is petitioning that the period for responding to the “Show Cause” notice letter be stayed until after the final disposition of the proceedings before the Michigan Commission.
“Having considered the arguments raised by Team Shields, this Committee hereby grants the
request for a stay of proceedings.“
It is still unknown what the MUCC’s, and most notably Director Linda Clegg’s, issue with Claressa Shields is given they have not substantiated or commented on their egregious claims surrounding Shields’ conduct, having labeled her as a threat to the sport.
Given the complete lack of evidence by the MUCC in clarifying Shield’s supposed misconduct, and the efforts to persecute Shields, a number of theories have arisen in turn; none of which paint either the MUCC or Linda Cregg as rational, objective participants with a legitimate complaints.
Instead, the MUCC as well as their drug testing methods seem to need to undergo strict revisions in order to ensure they ensure fairness and competiveness in the sport. Their accusations towards Shields, shortly after her undisputed win and film that recently came out, seems to more so highlight the MUCC’s possible bias towards Shields in a deliberate attempt to destroy her reputation.
Which is quite ironic given Shields is arguably the most well-known fighter to come out of the Michigan state over the past couple of decades.
