Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall antagonised each other at a press convention in London on Tuesday, two months earlier than the ladies conflict within the English capital to crown an undisputed middleweight champion.
Briton Marshall defeated Shields in an newbie bout in 2012, marking the one time the American has ever been overwhelmed in boxing. Now, 10 years on, the pair are set to sq. off as professionals – each with 12-0 data – as Marshall places her WBO title on the road and Shields defends the WBC, WBA and IBF belts.
The rematch will headline an all-female card on the O2 Arena on Saturday 10 September, with Sky Sports airing the occasion however selecting to not put it on pay-per-view – in order to extend the combat’s attain.
“She got lucky in 2012, but she won’t get lucky in 2022,” stated 27-year-old Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, at a heated press convention in London.
“I was 17. She couldn’t shake me, she didn’t drop me, but all of a sudden now she’s a ‘knockout’ puncher.”
Marshall has 10 stoppage wins to Shields’ two, however the American is assured of avoiding the Briton’s energy and rising victorious in September.
“They’re saying she’s a big knockout puncher and she has the recipe to beat me, so my job is to show everybody in the world that she doesn’t,” stated Shields, who has held titles in three weight lessons.
“I can knock Savannah Marshall out in Round 8, 9 or 10.”
Touching on her rivalry with Marshall, Shields stated: “I don’t hate nobody, but I really do have a huge dislike for her. My grandmother told me not to use the word ‘hate’.”
Addressing Marshall, 31, instantly, Shields stated: “It burns in you that I’ve got two Olympic medals and you’ve got zero. No Olympic gold medals, one belt. I’ve got five belts over here.”
“They’ll soon be over here,” replied Marshall. “10 September, I will be the new undisputed middleweight champion of the world.
“I’m not just gonna beat you, I’m gonna outbox you, I’m gonna hurt you. I’m the better fighter. I win this fight through heart and my boxing brain. That will be the end of all this ‘GWOAT’ rubbish, it won’t be rammed down anyone’s neck anymore,” Marshall added, referencing Shields’ “Greatest Woman Of All Time” nickname.
“I’m a fan of Claressa Shields,” Marshall continued. “What she’s done for the sport is amazing, she’s a pioneer, but the reality is she doesn’t beat me. She didn’t perform [in 2012] and she won’t again. It kills her. Look, it absolutely burns inside her.”
After Shields hit out at Marshall by saying, “I can leave a country and fight, she won’t do that; she wouldn’t come to the US,” the Hartlepool fighter retorted: “It’s in the UK because Claressa doesn’t sell a ticket [in the US].”
Source: www.unbiased.co.uk