The feedback Claressa Shields received from fans who’ve seen her biopic has been overwhelmingly positive since it was released in theaters nationwide on Christmas Day.

The three-division undisputed champion hopes “The Fire Inside” inspires young women and others who watch what it was like for Shields to literally fight her way out of an impoverished environment in Flint, Michigan. Shields, 29, also informed The Ring that she thinks her newfound mainstream fame will increase viewership for her next fight February 2.

DAZN will stream Shields’ hometown showdown with Danielle Perkins from Dort Financial Center in Flint. Shields will attempt to become a fully unified champ in a fourth division when she opposes Perkins, 42, for the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight titles. The Ring doesn’t recognize the women’s heavyweight division due to its lack of depth.

“The Fire Inside” will have been in theaters for seven weeks by the time Shields (15-0, 3 KOs) boxes Brooklyn’s Perkins (5-0, 2 KOs). The two-time Olympic gold medalist believes the movie will motivate her upcoming opponent as much, maybe more, than uninvolved viewers.

“It puts an even bigger target on my back,” Shields told The Ring. “I really have to overperform now because I have more fans now and more people that will be tuning in who just learned about me. … They wanna see what all the hype was about. So, I have to continue to get better and continue to put on great performances and win.”

The one-hour and 49-minute motion picture details Shields’ transformation from outcast in her own gym, which didn’t allow girls and women to train when she first arrived, into the first women’s boxing Olympic gold medalist for the United States. The self-anointed “GWOAT” since became an undisputed champion in the junior middleweight, middleweight and super middleweight divisions.

Her fight with Perkins will be contested at a contracted catch weight of 180 pounds. There is not a cruiserweight division for women, thus every female fight above the light heavyweight limit of 175 pounds is a heavyweight bout.

The weight notwithstanding, it is important to Shields that her first fight following the release of Amazon MGM Studios’ “The Fire Inside” be held in Flint. That’s where Shields,The Ring’s middleweight champion, is certain her evolving story resonates the most.

“For women who come from similar backgrounds as me,” Shields said, “I want them to know, ‘Hey, if I was able to make it through my tough upbringing and my hardship, you can, too. You know, it’s gonna take a little work and you’re gonna have doubters, and you may even doubt yourself sometimes. But just never give up.’ And I think just to people in the world who didn’t have the same background as me, you know, men and women and girls and boys, I think ‘The Fire Inside’ is the perfect title for the movie because it really does ignite the fire inside of everyone.

“It’s not just a boxer’s story. It’s a story about a young girl who went through sexual abuse, who had a tough upbringing, grew up in a rough neighborhood, who can relate to a mom having an addiction. You know, people can relate to having a tough upbringing, people can relate to being overlooked at something they’re great at. People can relate to accomplishing something and seeing someone else get praise for it and get sponsorships, when you’re kinda just sitting there, like, ‘I’m good, too,’ in my sport. … It’s not just one type of woman who deserves these things. Like, we all work hard, and we all deserve to be rewarded.”

Shields earned $25,000 for her pro debut – a four-round, unanimous-decision defeat of eventual super middleweight champ Franchon Crews Dezurn in November 2016 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

She was paid more than $1 million for her vengeful victory over rival Savannah Marshall in October 2022. Shields’ purse for the Perkins bout will be comparable to what she earned for fighting England’s Marshall (13-1, 10 KOs), who remains the only opponent to beat her in a professional or amateur boxing match.

Shields and Marshall are the only two opponents who have beaten Crews Dezurn as a pro (9-2, 2 KOs, 1 NC).