Beyond the X: No one bullies Olympic boxer Claressa Shields anymore

Living a dream

She has the kind of personality that draws people to her. Crutchfield relayed a story of when Shields and he met Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, a Flint native, at a local post office.

"Mark was standing there with his mother, and I knew Mark's mother and Mark through her, so I introduced Claressa to him," Crutchfield said. "Mark was great, he wished her luck and Claressa and Mark shook hands. But this really tells you about Claressa and how funny she is, because as we're walking away, Claressa says, ‘Mark Ingram's almost as famous as me.' I just laughed and told her he might have her by a little bit right now."

Now, everyone in Flint, it seems, knows Shields. She's moved in with Crutchfield and his family. Crutchfield's daughters treat her like a sister. It's given Shields a firm, stable base. She has two documentary crews trailing her, and she accepts and greets everyone as if she's known them her entire life.

She's 17 and reached a comfort zone. She's no longer angry.

"That's why I keep saying Claressa's a special kid in so many ways to survive what she survived. She didn't choose that way," Crutchfield said. "I kept pointing her in the right direction. I kept telling her she has a lot of talent and she has to use it. She has a deep faith. She talks about God a lot. She has a lot of faith in God; she has a lot of faith in me; she has a lot of faith in herself."

Shields envisions a future where one wasn't. She wants to go to college, and continue traveling the world to see where boxing ultimately takes her. It's been a good journey, a road of self-discovery and redemption.

"I have a deep faith in God and that there is a plan for me. I got baptized and I've learned how to deal with things a whole lot better than I used to," said Shields, smiling. "I'm a lot different than I used to be. My attitude and the way I conduct myself is definitely different. Boxing saved my life. It definitely changed my life.

"The attitude that I had, I had trouble. I caused as much negative things as positive things. Without boxing, who knows, I might have wound up pregnant or something, and I wouldn't be doing all of the things that I'm doing now. Everything is good that's happened to me when boxing came into the picture. I'm able to live my dreams."

Those dreams will continue in London. There was a time when she never imagined she'd get out of Flint.

Instead, she's something of a celebrity at Northwestern High School, which won Class A back-to-back Michigan state basketball championships in 1984 and '85 and produced such stellar athletes as Glen Rice, Jeff Grayer, Andre Rison and 2004 Olympic boxing bronze medalist Andre Dirrell.

School officials wanted to throw Shields a special celebration when she made the 2012 U.S. Olympic team in May, but she said no.

Instead, she wanted to be treated to McDonald's.

"That's Claressa," said Northwestern principal Cheryl Adkins, who taught Shields in middle school. "We're extremely proud of Claressa. She's an example to all of our young ladies as to what you can accomplish. I had Claressa in middle school, and she was this quiet child who was withdrawn. You knew she was there, but if she faded into a wall, she wouldn't be missed. There's been a lot to growth with her boxing. She was so into boxing she once told me she'd rather sleep in the gym, because it was far better than living at home as far as she was concerned. She looks at boxing as her way out."

Shields is taking college courses and maintaining a high-profile social life as well.

"She does a great job of juggling it all, because she has a ton of class work," Adkins said. "We're going to do something for Claressa when she gets back from London. She's still a kid. She's not into the tutti-frutti things. That's not where Claressa's head is. She's very down to earth. She just wants to be treated like everyone else."

If she comes home from London with a medal, don't count on that.