Hall of Fame boxing trainer turned analyst, Teddy Atlas, has made an incredible statement regarding Claressa Shields’ performance in her win over Savannah Marshall on Saturday night.
Speaking on his The Fight podcast, Atlas said:
“I was going to say this was the best performance of her career, but I’m going to add to it. I think this might be the best women’s performance I’ve ever seen, ever.”
The former coach of Mike Tyson went on to add:
“… and I’ve seen some great ones. I’ve seen Christie Martin, I’ve seen Laila Ali, Wolfe, all of them. On ESPN for 18 years doing Friday night fights, I saw women’s fights that nobody saw, but that might be the most brilliant performance”
“To fight her [Marshall] after being beaten by her in the amateurs, in her home country, she [Marshall] still had those physical advantages of reach and height.”
Atlas’ claim comes after the ‘GWOAT’ ran out victorious against long-serving rival Marshall at the O2 Arena in London, winning by scorecards of 96-94, 97-93 and 97-93 to become the undisputed middleweight world champion. It was a historic night for women’s boxing, with it being the first ever all-female card hosted in Britain.
In terms of what’s next for Shields, she has commitments in MMA with the PFL but has already spoken about potentially moving down to super-welterweight and taking on one of the champions there.
The division certainly possesses competition with Brits Natasha Jonas and Terri Harper now both holding world honours after Harper beat Hannah Rankin, a sparring partner and friend of Shields, last month to become a two weight champ.