WBO middleweight champion Savannah ‘The Silent Assassin’ Marshall 10-0 (8) is ready for a shot at two-time undisputed world champion Claressa ‘T-Rex’ Shields 11-0 (2) after her three-round demolition of late replacement Maria Lindberg 19-7-2 (10) at the Copper Box Arena in London on Saturday night.
The 29-year-old from Hartlepool was in control throughout the bout, dropping Sweden’s Lindberg, 44, in the second round and again in the third to earn the win at the 1:11 mark.
“Utmost respect to Maria,” Marshall said. “I’m really grateful that she stepped in. On Sunday it looked like I wasn’t even fighting, so credit to her. Maria had never been stopped and I didn’t think it would go like that but I’m happy with how I performed.
“It’s all about flow. Everything [trainer] Peter Fury teaches me is all about hitting correctly and getting the most power. I’m over the moon with the progress I’m making with Peter.”
Marshall believes she is now ready for Shields, who became the undisputed junior middleweight champion of the world with a shutout win over Canadian southpaw Marie Eve Dicaire 17-1 in her hometown of Flint, Michigan last month.
The 26-year-old Shields previously defeated Christina Hammer 26-1 (12) to claim the undisputed middleweight championship of the world before moving down in weight.
“I punch too hard for Claressa Shields,” Marshall said. “She doesn’t want to know. She would much rather roll about it in the Octagon and call out Katie Taylor who is four weight classes lower. I won’t wait forever, I want to be out in the summer.
“The IBF title is vacant at my weight, and if not that then I will go back up to super-middleweight and win a world title there. If Shields then gets some guts then we can have a big showdown at the end of the year.”
Unsurprisingly, Shields was less than impressed with the call-out.
“I want to tell the UK fans Savannah Marshall has not got shit on me,” Shields told MyBettingSites over the weekend. “She doesn’t have anything on me. Nothing. Don’t believe the hype.
“She told everybody in the UK I retired from boxing to run away from her. No. I’m just so great, I can do MMA at the same damn time.
“She’s going to get her ass-kicking this year for sure. I’m going to knock Savannah Marshall ass out. Sleep. Cold. She knows that. I’m a nine-time world champion, she just won a belt that became vacant because I haven’t fought in a year.
“She could have fought me for all the belts to prove what she’s saying but instead, she waited for my belt to become vacant and then fought for the vacant title when she could have fought me, so no, she’s not ranked.”
“She’s not ranked until she’s fought a Hannah Gabriel, or beat a Christina Hammer, beat somebody who is a world champion and not just brag about going ten rounds with Hannah Rankin, big whoop, congrats. You look at her resume, Hannah Rankin was her toughest test but everyone else gets two weeks’ notice. She’s not fought anyone [else] who has a winning record.”
Marshall’s promoter Eddie Hearn believes the fight will happen.
“We’re making good progress on a Shields fight,” the Matchroom Boxing boss said. “Her teams know how dangerous the fight is and they want a lot of money, but I’m prepared to pay them.
“There is no way Shields goes 10 rounds with Savannah Marshall. Savannah is the only girl to beat Shields in her entire life. She beat her in the amateurs and she will do in the professionals.
“Shields is one of the top three female pound-for-pound fighters in the world, but she is wide open and can’t stand up to Savannah’s power. Savannah is the hardest pound-for-pound puncher in women’s boxing.
“Marshall vs. Shields is superfight that can headline in the USA or England and I will do everything to try and make it.”
