Marshall on collision course with Shields after brutal second-round stoppage
Savannah Marshall engaged in a war of words with arch-rival Claressa Shields after defending her World Boxing Organisation middleweight crown on Saturday night.
After Marshall had delivered a brutal second-round stoppage of previously undefeated Lolita Muzeya, of Zambia, at the Utilita Arena, Newcastle, Shields, a threeweight world champion, joined the Sky Sports broadcast by video-call. “Congrats. See you next year, girlie. Show you what a real fighter and real champion fights like,” the American said.
Marshall, from Hartlepool, drew cheers from the 11,000-strong crowd when she countered: “Claressa couldn’t last two minutes with me, never mind two rounds.”
The pair will fight on the same card in the UK on Dec 11 before a potential head-on clash next year.
Marshall handed the American her only career defeat when she claimed the 2012 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in
Qinhuangdao, China. That made her favourite for the middleweight title at the 2012 London Olympics, but she lost in the quarter-finals and Shields, then 17, triumphed, adding a second gold in Rio in 2016.
On Saturday night, Marshall recorded her 11th professional victory, and ninth by knockout, after a toe-to-toe slugfest with Muzeya.
Muzeya threw power shots from the off, putting Marshall under pressure. A wild first round was followed by an equally wild second, with Muzeya continuing her total-war strategy while Marshall ducked and weaved through the barrage, countering with her own heavy punches.
By the end of the second, with the game challenger under clear assault, referee Michael Alexander stepped in.
Marshall was stunned by the fervency of support from the crowd. “I’m absolutely overwhelmed, I can’t get over it,” she said. “At the end of the day, I am still a woman in a man’s sport and to have this amount of support is amazing. I’m on cloud nine.”
Earlier, Marshall’s stablemate Hughie Fury returned to form with a heavyweight victory over Romanian Christian Hammer, who retired after round five with a torn bicep.
Chris Eubank Jnr’s opponent, Wanik Awdijan, also retired on his stool after five rounds having suffered a suspected broken rib.