“THE FIRE INSIDE” is the story of Claressa ‘T-Rex’ Shield, who grew up in Flint, Michigan, and had the dream to be a boxer.
At the time, girls were not allowed to train to be boxers. At 11 years old, Claressa would show up at the Berston Field House in Flint and was constantly told to leave because no girls were allowed in the gym. She continued to show up until, finally, coach Jason Crutchfield allowed her to train.
Coming from a dysfunctional household, she is determined to be the best boxer she can be. Coach Crutchfield brought her to the 2012 Olympics at the age of 16, where she became the youngest and first U.S. woman to win a Gold Medal in boxing. She repeated this feat in 2016. She is also the reason why women boxers receive the same amount of money as men.
Ryan Destiny gives an amazing performance as Claressa Shields. She brings the emotion, determination, and dedication Claressa must have to the screen. I had the chance to speak with Ryan about the film and her role. I asked her what Claressa thought about her portrayal.
She told me that she was a little apprehensive at first. She had seen Ryan’s work and thought she was too pretty. Plus, the fact that Ryan had never been in a fight gave her pause. However, after putting her trust in Director Rachel Morrison, she opened up to Ryan.
There are so many facets to this story. Everyone depends on Claressa to fund their lives. They felt that after she won the gold medal, she would make a lot of money and support them. They felt entitled to her success, but it didn’t work that way. In the United States, she was a pioneer.

Claressa Shields with gold medals.

Ryan told me, “As far as her family goes, it was just insane to me how those types of stories are a lot more common than we think with a parent kind of putting their life into their child’s hands, putting a lot of responsibility on them that they shouldn’t have. And I think many people can relate to that, and it’s very sad to have to grow up a lot faster than you needed to. So yeah. I think it was very important for me to make sure that I got those dynamics right.”
“THE FIRE INSIDE” has an amazing cast, director, and message. It will take you on an emotional journey through Claressa’s life and will to succeed.
Where is Claressa now? She held multiple world championships in five weight classes, including the undisputed female light middleweight title in March 2021; the undisputed female middleweight title twice between 2019 and 2024, the World Boxing Organization (WBO) female light heavyweight title, and the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Federation (WBF) female heavyweight titles since July 2024; WBC and IBF female super middleweight titles from 2017 to 2018.
Shields currently holds the record for becoming a two- and three-division world champion in the fewest professional fights. As of October 2022, BoxRec ranked her the world’s best active female middleweight, and ESPN and The Ring ranked her the best active female boxer, pound for pound.
Shields is one of only four boxers in history, female or male, to hold all four major world titles in boxing—WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO, in two weight classes.

Ryan Destiny as Claressa Shields.

Ryan and I both feel that one of the biggest takeaways is that no matter where you come from and how hard it is if you believe in yourself and have the confidence in yourself that Clarissa has, you can achieve great things. People will definitely have a new respect for women athletes after watching this film and seeing what they have to go through to earn even an ounce of respect that men normally get.
“THE FIRE INSIDE” receives 5 out of 5 winks of the EYE.
Until next time, keep your EYE to the sky!