This weekend, Claressa Shields takes on Savannah Marshall in one of the biggest fights of the year and, potentially, in the history of women’s boxing. Despite just two stoppages in her twelve professional victories, Shields promises she will knock the Brit out.
Shields is an unbeaten, three-weight world champion and holds the WBC, WBA & IBF world middleweight titles, she faces Marshall (who holds the WBO belt) to complete her goal of becoming undisputed champion. The American has dominated both the professional game and the amateur game with an Olympic gold medal and an amateur record of 64-1, with that ‘1’ being a defeat to Marshall.
This has led to claims that knockout-artist Marshall could well be Shields’ kryptonite, and has had fans questioning if she can take the Brit’s power, who has ten knockout wins in her 12-0 record. However, in an interview with Sky Sports, Shields has claimed it is her who will be stopping the fight from going to the judges.
“The goal is even bigger now, from September [the original date of the fight] to now the goal is bigger. I knew I was going to beat Savannah Marshall on September 10th, but now I really feel, in my spirit, that I am going to knock Savannah Marshall out. This is going to be my statement fight, she gives it all this talk about ‘pillow fists’, but she is not going to sit in there and fight me. She is not going to be able to handle my shots, she can’t outbox me, she is not better skilled.”
The fight will be available to watch on Sky Sports on Saturday October 15th, as the main event of a historic all-women’s card, with the victor becoming the “biggest name in women’s boxing”, according to promoter Ben Shalom.
Also featuring on the card are the likes of Mikaela Mayer, who fights Alycia Baumgardner for the unified super-featherweight titles, as well as Caroline Dubois and Olympic gold medallist Lauren Price.