Claressa Shields is unimpressed with the resume of Savannah Marshall.
The Flint champion, who holds every belt in the middleweight division apart from the WBO crown, takes on her long-standing rival later this year.
Shields, the WBC, IBF and WBA Super champion, has an unblemished record of 12-0 with two quick finishes in the paid ranks, meets England’s Marshall (12-0, 10 KOs) in an undisputed showdown on September 10 at the O2 Arena in London, exclusively live on Sky Sports.
But the self-proclaimed ‘GWOAT’, 27, has revealed that she believes she has faced better fighters than the local lady ahead of her attempt to avenge the only loss of her amateur career.
During a recent media conference call ahead of fight night, Shields said:
“Marshall has fought a whole bunch of tomato cans.
“She might be 12-0 with 10 knockouts, but if you go and look at her record, the majority of those girls had losing records. You’re supposed to knock them out on three days’ notice, or a week’s notice.”
The event will also see Mikaela Mayer, the WBO champion at super-featherweight, take on Alycia Baumgardner in a unification clash with the WBC and IBO titles also at stake and will be promoted by Salita Promotions and BOXXER in association with Hennessy Sports.
Shields, the two-time Olympic champion who is the only boxer in history, female or male, to hold all four major world titles in boxing — WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO —simultaneously, in two weight classes, continued:
“Yes, she’s a good fighter and everything, and she holds one belt, but I hold 12.”
Marshall was last seen in action in April when she dispatched of Femke Hermans with a left hook to the head in the third of 10 scheduled rounds at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle, while Shields’ last outing was a 10-round IBF, WBC and WBA title defence against Ema Kozin in Cardiff, Wales, back in February.
“I only lost in the amateurs in boxing. I’ve never lost in professional boxing. I’m undefeated. I lost to her 10 years ago in the amateurs by six points. It was 14-8. But that really doesn’t bother me at all because I’ve been able to be successful after that.
“On the other hand, you’ve got [Marshall] who lost every tournament she was in after our fight, and in those same tournaments, I won gold.
“I don’t really care about that loss but I guess it’s a good story and storyline. I guess we’ve got history. She doesn’t like me. I don’t like her, and I’m looking forward to fighting in six weeks.”