Unified women's middleweight champion Claressa Shields is set to make her UK debut on Saturday night when she defends her WBA, WBC and IBF titles against Ema Kozin in Cardiff, Wales.
Shields has been busy preparing for what could be a huge year and has added Floyd Mayweather's coach Gerald Tucker to her team.
Speaking to Vegas Insider, Tucker discussed what he was hoping to achieve with the two-time Olympic gold medallist.
“I worked on adding some patience to her game, slowing down her pace to where she can focus more on picking her shots and making the shots she lands more devastating and potentially fight-ending," Tucker said.
"She had the power needed to get stoppages, but there were a few things that I focused on tweaking in order to get the maximum amount of power landed with punches thrown; and it’s starting to show in the gym.
“I’m excited to say that her head trainer John says she’s punching different now. I’m also OCD when it comes to making the fighter look how I know they want to look performance wise; so a tighter offence and tighter defence is also what we worked on in this camp.
“I speak to the fighter’s subconsciouses about the importance of sacrificing things not needed, and also adding things that are needed like food, drinks, supplements, conditioning habits, sleep, and recovery. I'm sure some of those things have been taken into account and adjusted accordingly.”
Tucker also expressed how impressed he was with Shields' work in the gym.
“I learned in this camp that Claressa is everything I thought she was but times 10. She’s elite, a very hardworking world champion that will do what’s necessary to remain on top. She’s adamant about cementing her top position in the sport and dreams very big like myself. We both are constantly working towards leaving behind a legacy for the spotter to always remember.
“I’m expecting a beautiful knockout victory over a very tough and durable undefeated fighter in Kozin.”