Though former WBO female middleweight champion Savannah Marshall was quite comprehensively beaten by bitter rival Claressa Shields in their big fight last October, with the unbeaten Shields unifying the 160 pound titles with her win, Marshall still believes she can beat Shields. Not only that, but Marshall, in speaking with Sky Sports, says she can “outbox” Shields.
This didn’t turn out to be the case in October, and Marshall has suggested the tactics given to her by trainer Peter Fury had a lot to do with her defeat. Fury, Marshall says, “hasn’t been my favourite person over the past couple of months.”
Marshall says the rematch with Shields will happen, and that she is more than happy to go to America for the sequel, that it is just a case of whether or not she takes a fight before going in with Shields a second time.
“The rematch is there for me. It’s just whether or not there will be a fight in between, that’s what I’m waiting on, to see what the next plan is for me,” Marshall said. “I’d love to go straight into it, definitely, but I’ll take anything. There’s always the business side of boxing, and it needs building up. Honestly, I can outbox Claressa, I really can. The tactics [in the October fight] were totally going against my strengths. I think that’s one for Peter Fury (to explain the choice of tactics). But it’s a team effort, isn’t it? I can’t point the blame, but he hasn’t been my favourite person over the past couple of months.”
Marshall went on to say that Shields, 13-0(2) “doesn’t sell in America,” adding that this is “sad but true.” Why doesn’t Shields sell? “Because her attitude is disgraceful,” Marshall stated.
That’s another story, but in terms of who wins if a rematch does happen (and it probably will as it’s the biggest fight out there for both ladies) – can you see any other result than what we saw in fight-one? Fury may be able to tweak the Marshall game plan a little, but enough for Marshall to be able to outbox Shields, a master boxer? Good luck with that. But credit to Marshall, 12-1(10) for wanting to get that return fight, to want to try and put it right. But after she has said what she has said about Fury, one can only hope Marshall’s working relationship with her trainer remains cordial and conducive to success.
