Fight Week: Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall will finally meet again

Fight Week: Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall will finally meet again a decade after Marshall outpointed a teenaged Shields.

FIGHT WEEK

Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall will finally meet as professionals in a middleweight title unification bout a decade after Marshall outpointed a teenaged Shields in an amateur tournament.

CLARESSA SHIELDS (12-0, 2 KOs) VS. SAVANNAH MARSHALL (12-0, 10 KOs)

  • When: Saturday, Sept. 10
  • Time: 3 p.m. ET / noon PT (main event later in show)
  • Where: O2 Arena, London
  • TV/Stream: ESPN+
  • Division: Middleweight (160 pounds)
  • Rounds: 10 (two-minute rounds)
  • At stake: Shields’ IBF, WBA, WBC and Marshall’s WBO titles
  • Odds: Even (average of multiple outlets)
  • Also on the card: Mikaela Mayer vs. Alycia Baumgardner, junior lightweights (for Mayer’s IBF, WBO and Baumgardner’s WBC titles)
  • Prediction: Shields UD
  • Background: Marshall outpointed Shields the only time they met in the ring but that was as amateurs in 2012, when Shields was 17 years old. A lot has changed. Shields, who never lost before or since the setback against Marshall, went on to become a two-time Olympic gold medalist, a three-division titleholder as a professional and a face of combat sports. The 27-year-old from Flint, Michigan, has won world titles in two divisions and is 7-0 in title fights, 4-0 against former or current beltholders. She has barely lost a round in her career, which includes at least seven shutout decisions to go with two knockouts in her 12 fights (some records are incomplete). Shields is coming off a shutout decision over Ema Kozin in defense of her 160-poiund titles. She also is 1-1 in mixed martial arts fights. Marshall, 31, was a 2012 World Champion and a two-time Olympian for her native England but lost her first fight in 2012 and second in 2016. She won the vacant WBO middleweight title by stopping Hannah Rankin in seven rounds in October 2020 and has successful defended her belt three times, all by knockout against Maria Lindberg, Lolita Muzeya and Femke Hermans, to set up the showdown with Shields. The last fight took place in April. The bout on Saturday will be in London, about 250 miles south of Marshall’s hometown of Hartlepool. Also on the card, 2016 U.S. Olympian Mikaela Mayer (17-0, 5 KOs) and countrywoman Alycia Baumgardner (12-1, 7 KOs) will fight to unify all the junior lightweight titles.

 

ALSO FIGHTING THIS WEEK

THURSDAY

  • Yokasta Valle vs. Thi Thu Nhi Nguyen, strawweights (for Valle’s IBF and Nguyen’s WBO titles), San Jose, Costa Rica (DAZN).

FRIDAY

  • Joseph Adorno vs. Hugo Alberto Roldan, junior welterweights, Atlantic City, New Jersey (Showtime).
  • Josh Wagner vs. Jorge Perez Sanchez, welterweights, Brampton, Canada (DAZN).
  • Brandon Glanton vs. Mario Aguilar, cruiserweights, Plant City, Florida (ProBox TV).
  • Christian Mbilli vs. DeAndre Ware, super middleweights, Montreal (ESPN+).

SATURDAY

  • Sukhdeep Chakria Singh vs. Xhuljo Vrenozi, middleweights, Brampton, Canada (DAZN).
  • Austin McBroom vs. AnEson Gib, cruiserweights, Los Angeles (pay-per-view). Also, Le’Veon Bell vs. Adrian Peterson, exhibition.

[lawrence-related id=31759,31356,29135,27876]

Fight Week: Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall will finally meet again

Fight Week: Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall will finally meet again a decade after Marshall outpointed a teenaged Shields.

FIGHT WEEK

Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall will finally meet as professionals in a middleweight title unification bout a decade after Marshall outpointed a teenaged Shields in an amateur tournament.

CLARESSA SHIELDS (12-0, 2 KOs) VS. SAVANNAH MARSHALL (12-0, 10 KOs)

  • When: Saturday, Sept. 10
  • Time: 3 p.m. ET / noon PT (main event later in show)
  • Where: O2 Arena, London
  • TV/Stream: ESPN+
  • Division: Middleweight (160 pounds)
  • Rounds: 10 (two-minute rounds)
  • At stake: Shields’ IBF, WBA, WBC and Marshall’s WBO titles
  • Odds: Even (average of multiple outlets)
  • Also on the card: Mikaela Mayer vs. Alycia Baumgardner, junior lightweights (for Mayer’s IBF, WBO and Baumgardner’s WBC titles)
  • Prediction: Shields UD
  • Background: Marshall outpointed Shields the only time they met in the ring but that was as amateurs in 2012, when Shields was 17 years old. A lot has changed. Shields, who never lost before or since the setback against Marshall, went on to become a two-time Olympic gold medalist, a three-division titleholder as a professional and a face of combat sports. The 27-year-old from Flint, Michigan, has won world titles in two divisions and is 7-0 in title fights, 4-0 against former or current beltholders. She has barely lost a round in her career, which includes at least seven shutout decisions to go with two knockouts in her 12 fights (some records are incomplete). Shields is coming off a shutout decision over Ema Kozin in defense of her 160-poiund titles. She also is 1-1 in mixed martial arts fights. Marshall, 31, was a 2012 World Champion and a two-time Olympian for her native England but lost her first fight in 2012 and second in 2016. She won the vacant WBO middleweight title by stopping Hannah Rankin in seven rounds in October 2020 and has successful defended her belt three times, all by knockout against Maria Lindberg, Lolita Muzeya and Femke Hermans, to set up the showdown with Shields. The last fight took place in April. The bout on Saturday will be in London, about 250 miles south of Marshall’s hometown of Hartlepool. Also on the card, 2016 U.S. Olympian Mikaela Mayer (17-0, 5 KOs) and countrywoman Alycia Baumgardner (12-1, 7 KOs) will fight to unify all the junior lightweight titles.

 

ALSO FIGHTING THIS WEEK

THURSDAY

  • Yokasta Valle vs. Thi Thu Nhi Nguyen, strawweights (for Valle’s IBF and Nguyen’s WBO titles), San Jose, Costa Rica (DAZN).

FRIDAY

  • Joseph Adorno vs. Hugo Alberto Roldan, junior welterweights, Atlantic City, New Jersey (Showtime).
  • Josh Wagner vs. Jorge Perez Sanchez, welterweights, Brampton, Canada (DAZN).
  • Brandon Glanton vs. Mario Aguilar, cruiserweights, Plant City, Florida (ProBox TV).
  • Christian Mbilli vs. DeAndre Ware, super middleweights, Montreal (ESPN+).

SATURDAY

  • Sukhdeep Chakria Singh vs. Xhuljo Vrenozi, middleweights, Brampton, Canada (DAZN).
  • Austin McBroom vs. AnEson Gib, cruiserweights, Los Angeles (pay-per-view). Also, Le’Veon Bell vs. Adrian Peterson, exhibition.

[lawrence-related id=31759,31356,29135,27876]