Savannah Marshall expects the biggest women’s boxing match of all time against Claressa Shields to happen next year and has warned her rival: “Nobody’s safe!”
WBO middleweight champion Marshall must first preserve her reign and her unbeaten record against Lolita Muzeya on Saturday in Newcastle, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Arena at 7.30pm.
Victory would inch her closer to settling a long-held score with feted US star Shields – both fighters have signed with promoters BOXXER to agree their anticipated fight.
“I’ve got the power to knock anyone out if I land correctly and I time it,” Marshall said. “Nobody’s safe.”
Her trainer Peter Fury added: “Savannah is the biggest puncher but can also box – and you don’t find that in women’s boxing. I don’t see it. She is a fabulous talent.
Man Utd defend decision to fly to Leicester
PL predictions: Liverpool, Chelsea, Man Utd all to slip
‘Amanda who?’ – Lascelles lifts lid on Newcastle takeover
Ole’s daunting run: can Man Utd’s defence cope?
The Fury who won’t be forgotten – ‘I’m the best!’
Revealed: Fury’s ‘stress’ – ‘He wasn’t ready’ to fight
Two Spurs players test positive for Covid
Wilder breaks silence to pay respect to Fury
Vieira on Ek’s Arsenal bid: You can’t buy a club if it’s not for sale
“I’ve not seen anyone in the women’s divisions, at any weight, who can touch Savannah on power.
“She has got serious power but we don’t rely on it. A big punch will only take you so far. Luckily in Savannah we’ve got a flowing, elite boxer.”
Hughie Fury said about Marshall’s punch power: “I’ve seen her wobble men a lot.”
Marshall insisted the clash with Shields will be the pinnacle of female boxing: “Definitely. Especially at the higher weights.
“People talk about Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano or Taylor vs Chantelle Cameron.
“But at the higher weights it’s me and Claressa.
“It’s about being the best. I want to be the best at my weight and the weights around.”
Shields won gold medals at back-to-back Olympic Games and is undefeated as a professional, winning world championships in three divisions and becoming undisputed twice.
Her glory-filled career has just a single blemish – an amateur loss to Marshall in 2012.
Marshall said: “She calls herself the ‘GWOAT’ [the Greatest Woman of All-Time] but that’s for other people to call her.
“After I beat her? She can call me the ‘GWOAT’, can’t she?”
Peter Fury said: “I don’t see any reason why that fight can’t happen next year.
“2022 we’re on for that fight, surely.
“We’re with the same promotional company so there’s nothing to get in the way.
“I don’t look too far ahead but that fight will happen.”
Marshall’s focus is first on retaining her world title on Saturday night: “I’ve got to get past Lolita. I can’t see past what is front of me.
“Lolita will bring a tough night for me.
“I’d be a fool to bypass her – she’s unbeaten, she doesn’t know what it’s like to lose. She’s my No 1 priority at the moment.”
Shields has previously disputed that Marshall packs a more powerful punch: “I can knock out Marshall, and she knows that too. She knows I punch very hard and I’m way faster.
“Savannah has this thing, which her coaches know about too, she is either ‘on’ or ‘off’. She has to be at 300 per cent to even compete with me. She can’t afford a bad night.
“If she’s ‘on’? You will see a competitive fight in the early rounds then I will break her down.
“She’s smarter than me? We were at both Olympics together and she didn’t medal but guess who got two gold medals!”
What happened in sparring?
Marshall and Shields have revealed contrasting accounts of a sparring session in 2016, four years after their amateur fight.
“I pulverised her for four rounds,” Shields claimed.
Marshall insisted: “She threw about 10 shots in the whole four rounds and that was it. Can you batter someone with just 10 shots?”
Sky Sports Boxing schedule
October 16 – Top Rank in San Diego
Emanuel Navarette vs Joet Gonzalez – WBO featherweight title
October 16 – BOXXER in Newcastle
Savannah Marshall vs Lolita Muzeya – WBO middleweight title
Hughie Fury vs Christian Hammer
Chris Eubank Jr vs Wanik Awidjan
Lewis Ritson vs Hank Lundy
October 24 – Top Rank in Atlanta
Jamel Herring vs Shakur Stevenson – WBO super-featherweight title
October 31 – Top Rank in New York
Jose Zepeda vs Josue Vargas
November 6 – Top Rank in Las Vegas
Mikaela Mayer vs Maiva Hamadouche – IBF and WBO super-featherweight titles
November 6 – BOXXER in Liverpool
November 20 – BOXXER in London
Richard Riakporhe vs Olanrewaju Durodola
Caroline Dubois professional debut
November 20 – Top Rank in Las Vegas
Terence Crawford vs Shawn Porter – WBO welterweight title
December 11 – Top Rank in Las Vegas
Vasiliy Lomachenko vs Richard Commey
December 17 – Top Rank in Montreal
Artur Beterbiev vs Marcus Browne – IBF and WBC light-heavyweight titles
December 18 – Top Rank in Glasgow
Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall – undisputed super-lightweight title