Savannah Marshall (10-0, 8 KOs) and Claressa Shields (11-0, 2 KOs) will box on the same bill in December before facing each other in 2022, according to Marshall’s trainer Peter Fury.
The two women have history spanning almost a decade. In 2012, Marshall defeated Shields in the AIBA World Boxing Championships. A rematch between the pair at the Olympics in London failed to come to fruition after Marshall suffered a shock defeat to Marina Volnova in her quarter-final bout. Shields went on to capture gold in London and repeated the feat four years later at the Rio Olympics.
The success the American enjoyed in the unpaid ranks continued when she turned professional in 2016. In just 11 fights, she has unified titles at super-middleweight and become undisputed champion at middleweight and super-welterweight. The only blemish on Shields record, as an amateur or professional, is her loss to Marshall.
Having initially turned professional under the guidance of Floyd Mayweather, Marshall made slower progress than ‘T-Rex’. However, Marshall captured the WBO middleweight title last year against Hannah Rankin.
Now, Marshall and Shields have both signed promotional deals with BOXXER, Fury believes the fight between the old rivals will take place sooner, rather than later.
“I think most definitely it will happen next year,” Fury told Boxing Social. “They are probably going to fight on the same card in December and then they’ll face off in a super fight next year sometime.”
To keep hopes of a bout with Shields alive, Marshall must first defeat Lolita Muzeya, who she faces at the Newcastle Arena tonight, live on Sky Sports. Fury insists that the ‘The Silent Assassin’ is not overlooking her opponent, but the coach believes it will take a fighter like Shields to truly test his charge.
“That’s the fight Savannah wants,” Fury said of the proposed clash. “She wants to prove she’s the best. Thank God Claressa Shields is there because this fight between the two of them is mouth-watering. I’m happy [Shields] is there because if she wasn’t, it would be pretty boring, wouldn’t it? She’s there for a big fight and it would be good for the fans to see. Both fighters want it, there’s nothing to get in the way of it now.”
Women’s boxing has grown rapidly over the course of the last five years and has already delivered fantastic fights such Katie Taylor’s battles with Delfine Persoon and Tasha Jonas. However, Fury believes that the bout between Marshall and Shields has the potential to surpass them.
“I think so,” Fury said when asked if the aforementioned fight could become the biggest in the history of the women’s sport. “They are middleweights, one is a boxer-puncher, they are going to bring excitement in that fight. It just tips for an explosion. There is going to be plenty blood and snot in that fight. It’ll go into the trenches and we’ll definitely see a very good scrap there because both of them really want, they’ve got the bit between their teeth and they’ll give it everything they’ve got. Boxing is going to be a winner again.”