Claressa Shields Says She Was Never “Sneaking” Around With Papoose: “I Enjoyed the Privacy Of It” [Video]

Claressa Shields is dishing on her relationship with rapper Papoose.

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The boxing champion shed some insight on their bond during a recent sit-down with Angela Yee. According to Shields, it was Papoose who made the first move toward what would become an unexpected connection.

“It was Pap for sure,” Shields said. “And when we took our first picture, it started going, I seen the blogs then talkin’ about that potentially I was his girlfriend. I was like, ‘I don’t even know this dude.'”

Shields shared that she initially invited Papoose to her boxing match in July after hearing he was a fan. Their friendship grew from there, with Papoose eventually making it clear he was interested in more.

“I wouldn’t say that we was ever sneaking in the first place,” she clarified when asked about the relationship going public. “I enjoyed the privacy of it.”

That privacy was disrupted when Papoose’s estranged wife, Remy Ma, let the cat out of the bag back in December. Though Papoose didn’t deny he was dating Shields, he also accused Remy of being unfaithful to battle rapper Eazy the Block Captain.

Still, Shields stressed her desire to keep things sacred and out of the spotlight. “When you’re in a public relationship, right? Everybody’s, ‘oh, couple goals. We love y’all. We love y’all.’ And then you break up…the fans feel like you owe them an explanation on your life on why you broke up with somebody,” she said.

While the two have been seen at events together, they continue to keep their romance low-key.