Ahead of her fight with Savannah Marshall, Claressa Shields has slammed the British fighter’s trainer for his comments on the middleweight division.
Shields and Marshall are set to face off in a much-hyped main event of the first all-female boxing card in history. The fight, which will crown an undisputed middleweight champion, was initially to take place on September 10, however the passing of Queen Elizabeth II saw sporting fixtures across the country postponed as a mark of respect in a time of national mourning.
Now, with the rescheduled date of October 15 just days away, the pair are gearing up once more. Whilst they’ll meet again for a press conference and weigh in this week, it turns out that a past comment from Marshall’s trainer, Peter Fury, has been bothering Shields.
At the press conference prior to the first fight date, Fury claimed that Shields and Marshall were ‘the only two diamonds in a sack of sh*t’ division. The American Gold Medalist has taken issue with that, and has dug up Fury’s own professional record. She made the point to Boxing Social.
“He [Peter Fury] said that me and Savannah Marshall were the best two up at 160lb and the rest of the girls were just a load of sh*t. And I want to say to him – Peter Fury, you had one professional fight in the professionals and you lost.
So, you were the load of shit out of all those other fighters at that time in 1998, or 1988, March 17th. Let’s just keep that there because women’s boxing – none of the girls are a load of shit. There are levels and I’m at the top level. Savannah Marshall was here [below].”
"Peter Fury you were the load of sh*t!" 💩
🤬 @Claressashields fires back at @peterfury's comments that Shields and Marshall are "The only two diamonds in a sack of shit".
Full interview 👉 https://t.co/9EaqbMWvx9
🔞 @Betfred Fight Odds: https://t.co/alJfxE6W6R#Boxingpic.twitter.com/4zdkNfZsyu
— Boxing Social (@boxing_social) October 11, 2022
She does seem to right about the record. BoxRec shows Fury, uncle to the current heavyweight champion Tyson, as having one fight which lasted two rounds. Fury didn’t come out for the third round.
Having said that, all talk will be meaningless come Saturday night in what many in the sport see as a genuine 50/50 scrap. Shields had only one loss in her amateur career – but it just so happens that it was at the hands of Marshall before they had both turned pro.
The action takes place at London’s O2 this Saturday, and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.