Claressa Shields – Savannah Marshall Grudge Match Close to Being a Done Deal
Savannah Marshall (11-0, 9 KOs) will make the third defense of the WBO women’s middleweight title on April 2 against Femke Hermans (12-3, 5 KOs) at Newcastle Arena in Newcastle, England. As part of the pre-fight festivities, Marshall held a public workout for the local media on March 30 in Newcastle.
The stakes are very high for the defending champ. A win sets her up for a monster showdown with bitter rival and unified women’s world middleweight champion Claressa Shields (12-0, 2 KOs).
ONE STEP AWAY
Following the public workout, Marshall’s promoter, Ben Shalom, spoke to Sky Sports regarding a potential fight between the two middleweight champions. Shalom is already fancying the possibilities.
“Not to put pressure on Savannah, but I expect her to deal with Claressa. So, this fight should be no problem. We knew we had to do this fight, we knew we had to come back to Newcastle, get one more out of the way. Claressa will be over here as well.
The negotiations are just getting to the end now. It’s a matter of days before we finish all that and then we can look forward. Of course, Savannah’s got to focus and make sure she doesn’t take the eye off the ball. I’m already thinking about Savannah-Claressa. I think it’s such a big fight, I can’t not think about it. It was the first fight we wanted to make when we first came into Sky. So, to finally be here, it’s really exciting.”
ON THE VERGE
Marshall and Shields are far from friends. Their rivalry goes back a decade when Marshall handed Shields her only loss as an amateur in 2021. Negotiations for them to fight in the pro ranks started at the end of 2021. Shields held up her end of the bargain with a dominant win over Ema Kozin on February 5.
Most pundits have Marshall as the favorite in her upcoming bout against Hermans, but one should never count their chickens before they hatch. However, Shields-Marshall is a super-fight; a grudge match that has many fans of women’s boxing buzzing with anticipation. Now it’s up to Marshall to take care of business on April 2.
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By: Michael Wilson Jr.
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