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 three weight 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 Marshallducked 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.