Claressa Shields v Savannah Marshall: American plans to 'make the country mad' by beating rival
- Published
I'm smart enough to beat Claressa - Marshall
American Claressa Shields plans to travel to the United Kingdom and "make the whole country mad" by beating home fighter Savannah Marshall.
Shields is the WBC, IBF, WBA and Ring magazine middleweight champion, while Briton Marshall holds the WBO title.
The undisputed bout will take place at London's O2 Arena on 10 September.
"Whoever supports Savannah Marshall, I want them to hate me after this fight. I'm fighting against all them," Shields, 28, told BBC Sport.
"I live for these moments and I live for this platform. They will remember me after this. The girl came over from Flint, Michigan with the blue hair. I'm coming to make the whole country mad."
Shields is a two-time Olympic champion and a multiple weight champion. The fight will inevitably be billed as the biggest in women's boxing history, surpassing what Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano achieved at Madison Square Garden earlier this year.
"When I turned professional, close people to me told me my aspirations were too big. Fighting at the T Mobile arena, making a million dollars, fighting on TV, was too big," Shields says. "Everything I said about myself and the future of women's boxing, I was right."
'She trolls me' - Shields plans to 'hurt' Marshall
Shields' only defeat in her boxing career was against Marshall as an amateur when they were both preparing for the 2012 Olympics. A long-standing feud followed.
There were several heated exchanges between the two when they met at a media conference to announce the fight earlier this month, with Marshall promising she would "outbox" and "hurt" her opponent.
In response, Shields said: "Savannah isn't ready for this media attention. She's been saying my name over and over again. First she said she will knock me out. Now she's going to outbox me. Which one is it?
"She's getting smarter and realising this fight won't be as easy as she thought. Now she's in with an elite fighter. I plan on hurting her and I plan on surprising her."
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Marshall also said she was a fan of Shields and described her rival as a "pioneer" for women's boxing, a comment which seemed to irk the American.
"She's disrespectful to me online. She trolls me. Says she's going to knock me out in two rounds," Shield said.
"How are you fan of me if you say that? I'm not a fan of anybody who doesn't feel I'm a challenge for them.
"Savannah is sturdy, experienced and a knockout artist, but as a person, she's a hater."
'Shields is a good boxer but her attitude stinks'
Like Shields, Marshall is undefeated in 12 pro fights, but has 10 knockouts.
In her ninth fight, she beat fellow Briton Hannah Rankin to win the WBO belt, a title vacated by Shields.
"I'm over the moon this fight is happening," Marshall said. "The past 18 months have been so close to being made but dates kept being changed. But we're here now and this is it.
"I'm just a girl who fell in love with boxing at the age of 11. It's brought me a lot of joy and a lot of tears.
"My determination and passion has got me here and now I'm headlining the biggest fights in female boxing."
Asked to describe her opponent in a short sentence, Marshall says: "She is a good boxer but she's also ignorant and her attitude stinks."
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- Published16 October 2022
