Sports
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 02 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.”
BBC SPORT.
A.I
Tags: Claressa Shields Savannah Marshall
