Claressa Shields doesn’t think she necessarily needs to fight Savannah Marshall again.
Shields feels her unanimous points victory over Marshall on October 15 in London was decisive. Even Marshall acknowledged that Shields was the rightful winner of their 10-round middleweight championship match at a sold-out O2 Arena.
If there’s a market for a rematch, though, Shields will gladly battle her British rival again. The Flint, Michigan native’s only stipulation is that Marshall make the transatlantic trip this time for their second showdown.
“If that’s what the fans want, we can make it happen,” Shields told BoxingScene.com. “But I already told her and whoever else that I would like to fight her in the USA. I’ve already done my part and come over and fought in front of 20,000 of your fans. Now I think it’s only fair that she comes to America to have to fight against me. I would be all for the fight again.”
The 27-year-old Shields defeated the previously unbeaten Marshall on all three scorecards. Italy’s Luigi Boscarelli (97-93) and Connecticut’s Frank Lombardi (97-93) scored seven rounds apiece for Shields, who won six rounds according to England’s Steve Gray (96-94).
Shields feels she deserved to win eight rounds against the only opponent who has beaten her in a professional or amateur boxing match.
“Do I think that the fight calls for a rematch? Absolutely not,” Shields said. “You know, she was supposed to knock me out and they built this fight off of an amateur win. The only thing Savannah Marshall has going for her is that she’s the bigger girl. But other than that, I’m more experienced, I’m more skilled. I believe that I’m the bigger puncher out of me and her. I’ll beat her again easily, and probably knock her out.
“But if that’s the fight that the fans want, I’ll just fight whoever the fans think is the best. But I’ve got plans at 154, plans at 175 and we even have some plans at 147, if we can get those fights. And who knows what Savannah will do? I think after the loss she may wanna retire because she had it all. She was thinking about retirement already. Now that she’s lost, she still may be considering it.”
Marshall (12-1, 10 KOs), of Hartlepool, England, is only 31 and suffered her first professional defeat to Shields (13-0, 2 KOs). Dmitriy Salita, Shields’ promoter, informed BoxingScene.com recently that 12 to 18 months is the time frame within which a Shields-Marshall rematch might happen.
Shields could move back down to the junior middleweight limit of 154 pounds for her next bout. The two-time Olympic gold medalist mentioned two other British boxers, WBC/WBO champ Natasha Jonas (12-2-1, 8 KOs) and IBO/WBA champ Terri Harper (13-1-1, 6 KOs), as potential opponents if she competes at junior middleweight next.
Jonas is scheduled to box Quebec’s Marie Eve Dicaire on November 12 at OA Arena in Manchester, England. Shields dominated Dicaire (18-1, 1 KO) on her way to easily winning their 10-round, 154-pound title fight in March 2021 in Flint.
Harper decisively defeated Hanna Rankin on points in their 10-rounder September 24 at Nottingham Arena in Nottingham, England. Shields shut out Scotland’s Rankin (12-6, 3 KOs) on all three scorecards in a 10-round middleweight championship match that took place in November 2018 at Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kansas.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.