The temperature is boiling between Savannah Marshall and Claressa Shields as the two prepare for the middleweight unification bout this Saturday at O2 Arena in London.
Talk of them fighting has been brewing, with the two pointing fingers at each other’s credentials on several occasions. But the wait will soon be over, and one of the most contentious bouts in women’s boxing will finally take place in just a few nights.
The three-division champion, Shields (12-0, 2 KOs), was back to her usual self as she called out Marshall (12-0, 10 KOs) for bashing opponents that she believed were mediocre. Shields stated that the British fighter has been feasting on smaller opponents, and scoring KOs over them for fun, explaining her record.
“It’s good matchmaking, that’s it,” Shields said. “She’s been gifted a whole lot of tomato cans. I’m not wrong. If I … read you off her opponents’ records, you’re gonna see that.”
Shields noted how Marshall would face her opponents with very short notice, and commented on the weight disparities in the women she fights.
“Her and April Hunter have similar opponents. How, when April Hunter is a 140-pounder? How does a 168-pounder and a 175-pounder have a similar opponent with a 140-pounder? She’s knocking out smaller girls with losing records.”
Marshall has so far knocked out 83 percent of her opponents while her next counterpart Shields has just got a 17 percent knockout ratio.
But it’s pertinent to note here that Shields has fought considerably tougher opponents with Femke Hermans (13-4, 5 KOs), Sydney LeBlanc (4-5-1, 0 KOs), and Hannah Rankin (12-5, 3 KOs) the common opponents between them.
Shields has vowed to challenge Marshall’s title of “The Knockout Artist” when the two meet each other in the ring this Saturday in a highly anticipated unification bout.