Savannah Marshall methodically dispatches of Hannah Rankin!
Savannah Marshall remains the only fighter to defeat arguably the best women’s fighter today in 3-division unified champion Claressa Shields as an amateur. She is now in hot pursuit of a rematch in the professional ranks.
To get there, she elected to drop down to the middleweight division to take on former IBO champ and Shields victim, Hannah Rankin for the WBO middleweight title Shields previously vacated.
RELATED: Savannah Marshall Targeting Claressa Sheilds Fight For 2020!
A VERY SLOW START
Marshall is known for her technical ability. She is not a fast starter and does not like to waste punches or energy in the ring. Setting her opponents up to walk into a big shot and finishing them off is her forte. However, it could take all night to get there.
With this, Rankin could have easily taken the first two rounds due to activity while her opponent looked to get comfortable.
GETTING RELAXED, THEN DOMINATING
By the third round, Marshall started to pick her adversary apart! Rankin only fights one way and in one gear…get inside and keep punching. Defense has never been and never will be something she excels in. Her more naturally skilled opponent found it easy to setup the straight and right-uppercut at will as Rankin lunged in.
Each big shot landed was also setup by that long armed jab by Marshall that the former IBO champion could not avoid. Round after round, Rankin took a beating, easily getting picked off with every punch the favorite threw. Meanwhile, the underdog tried her hardest to bull her way in and land something but Marshall’s defensive prowess and counter-punching ability rendered her untouchable.
Then in round seven, an onslaught of shots hurt the underdog and had her back-peddling across the ring. Finally after taking tons of unanswered shots, Rankin finally took a knee. She beat the count but the referee noticed how lethargic Rankin looked and stopped the bout.
BRING ON SHIELDS
Marshall easily became the first to stop the tough former IBO champion. Although, Shields is currently the unified champion looking to become undisputed at junior middleweight, eventually she will move back to the middleweight division.
When asked about what she wanted to do next, Marshall gave a indirect callout to the junior middleweight champ.
“The only reason Claressa has the belts is because she got there [to the middleweight division] before me. Not because she’s better than me!”
With this performance against a common foe, the boxing world knows that Marshall is silently becoming a must see opponent for the self proclaimed “G.W.O.A.T!”
By: EJ Williams
