Claressa Shields admits it's difficult to class herself as the best female fighter of all-time given the achievements and "greatness" of Irish sensation Katie Taylor.
Boxing fans have long argued as to which of the pair has enjoyed the most impressive career with both having established themselves as multi-division undisputed world champions.
Shields has been crowned undisputed champion on three occasions, with Taylor holding all the titles in her respective weight classes twice.
Whilst Taylor has suffered defeat as a pro -- at the hands of Chantelle Cameron, which she later avenged -- Shields still boasts an unbeaten record, having reigned supreme in all 19 of her outings to date.
Despite that however, the American says she could never stake claim to being the outright pound-for-pound number one, instead preferring to share the tagging with the Bray sensation.
"Am I number one? I have always shared that with Katie," Shields told Sky Sports ahead of Taylor's final fight against Flora Pili on Saturday.
Me and her joke and say we're 1A and 1B, because we're both just that good!
- Claressa Shields (Sky Sports)
"I'm not a person that really cares about the pound for pound list. I know that I've been number one or two on there for the past five, six years, but she's great.
"I know that Katie, she's a great fighter. She's an absolute warrior and I wish her a happy retirement."
She added: "I hope that she gets a big knock out her last fight."
Taylor will finally fulfill her lifelong dream of fighting at Dublin's iconic Gaelic venue Croke Park this weekend when she brings the curtain down upon her glittering career against French operator Flora Pili.
Over 80,000 specatators are expected to be in attendance to pay tribute to one of their country's most successful sports stars of all-time, and whilst Shields wishes it could have been her stood in the opposite corner, she fully understands why the 'dream fight' never came to fruition.
"I'm not mad that it didn't happen," she said. "We had weight classes for a reason.
"I respect her greatness and she respects mine. I beat the best in my divisions, and she's beat the best in her divisions. I respect that.
"So no, I'm not upset that we never got to fight, I'm just happy to have been able to watch her and her greatness -- she's done the same for me."
