Claressa Shields Tops Savannah Marshall, Lays Claim To Throne

Time and time again, Claressa Shields has accepted the challenge.

And time and time again, Shields has come out on top.

This time, she did it across the pond in the United Kingdom.

Shields dominated Savannah Marshall on Saturday in London, becoming the undisputed women’s middleweight bxoing champion for a second time. She also held all four belts in 2019 and 2020.

The win avenged the only loss on the resume of Shields, as Marshall scored a victory over her while both were amateurs.

“It’s not just a special moment for me, it’s a special moment for women’s boxing,” Shields said in a postfight interview in the ring (thanks to ESPN for the quotes). “Savannah Marshall, Alycia Baumgardner, Mikaela Mayer, Caroline Dubois. I mean, women’s boxing has been around for so many years and so many great stuff happened before us.

“But here we are, in front of 20,000 fans in London at O2 Arena, and I think that’s fight of the year. I’m just so happy and it’s an unbelievable moment right now.”

The stats were one-sided in favor of Shields, who was aggressive from the beginning bell. She out-landed Marshall, 175-136, including a 131-122 edge in power shots landed.

Over the final half of the fight, Marshall took advantage of an eye issue for Shields, closing the distance.

“Claressa is a brilliant fighter,” Marshall said in a postfight interview in the ring. “She definitely is. She’s not as fast as I thought she was but she’s a brilliant fighter and she’s definitely earned the title of greatest woman of all time.”

The 27-year-old Shields improved to 13-0, while Marshall suffered her first loss in 13 pro fights. Shields is also a fighter for the PFL, making her MMA debut last year.

In the co-main event of the all-female card, Alycia Baumgardner won a split decision over Mikaela Mayer to claim the unified junior lightweight titles.