So far Claressa Shields has proven untouchable as a pro, but promoter Eddie Hearn feels his fighter Savannah Marshall has the power to stop the three-weight champion in her tracks.
WBO middleweight title holder Marshall (9-0, 7 KOs) is the only woman to ever beat Shields (then a teenager) back in their amateur days in the 2012 World championships and Hearn believes the Hartlepool woman is the only credible candidate to meet the American next.
Shields (11-0, 2 KOs) unified the 154lbs crowns at the weekend with an easy points win over Canadian Marie Eve Dicaire, but still holds WBA, WBC and IBF titles at middleweight with Marshall, wearing the WBO belt (previously owned by Shields).
Hearn revealed he has offered Shields’ manager Mark Taffet and promoter Dmitriy Salita an improved two-fight deal to face Marshall twice and is awaiting a response. The no-nonsense Shields baulked at a previous, reported $250,000 offer.
“I believe $300,000 was the offer that we made for her to fight Savannah Marshall,” said Hearn on ‘The Ak & Barak Show’ on DAZN and SiriusXM. “I’m guessing [it’s] probably three times more than she got last [against Dicaire]. But I love Claressa Shields. I think she’s great. The only thing is with Claressa, I feel like she’s isolated herself away from some people and some networks, because she’s so outspoken.
“I love that. I don’t have a problem with that. I think you have to speak up for what you believe in. But because of that spirit or attitude or whatever you wanna call it, people like Showtime have obviously turned their back on her. And that was the main outlet for her to fight. So, for me, I would love to bring her over to Matchroom and DAZN.
“I keep reaching out to Mark Taffet and those guys and keep trying to push conversations forward. They haven’t been that quick in coming back. They have been responding, but I’m saying to them now, we should do two fights with Marshall. Really, Marshall is the only fight for Shields.
“Marshall beat Shields in the amateurs. She’s a world champion at middleweight. It’s a tremendous fight. So, why don’t we do a two-fight deal where Claressa Shields fights Savannah Marshall twice. Once in the UK, once in America, in whatever order we work out.
“It’s a tremendous fight. They’re both capable of winning that fight. Claressa won’t like this – I really believe Savannah Marshall stops her. She’s a really, really special fighter. She’s fighting again on April 10. Let’s see how she gets on. She’s still at a much earlier stage in her professional journey than Claressa, but we’re ready to take that fight now. That’s a super-fight for women’s boxing. And hopefully her team gets back to me and we can wrap it up.”
An irked Shields was distinctly unimpressed by Hearn’s assertion she would get stopped, later taking to social media to vent her view on the matter.
“I hate being disrespected by a silver spoon fed ass person,” tweeted Shields. “Eddie Hearn has never laced up a pair of gloves nor been in a fight to even say that a 2X UNDISPUTED CHAMPION, 3X DIVISION WORLD CHAMPION, 2X OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST would get stopped. Clown.”
Quick as a flash, a mischievous Hearn countered: “Now you are just using my name to build your profile.”