One of the biggest names in British female boxing, Savannah Marshall, headlines her first show in her hometown of Newcastle this Saturday. The lifelong Magpies fan spoke at St. James Park after the press conference saying, “It’s an amazing opportunity and to be joined by all the other boxers, it’s great”.
The current WBO world champion is currently undefeated in her journey as a professional winning all ten fights, eight of them coming inside the distance. With a career-defining fight against pound for pound number one Clarissa Shields on the horizon, Marshall must stay focused on the task at hand which comes in the form of Lolita Muzeya. Despite all the talk, the 30-year-old brit claims “I have never underestimated her or overlooked her, I’m expecting the best version of Lolita”
Even though Marshall is being grouped with names such as Clarissa Shields, her journey to get where she is now has been a tough one. “I went through a dark time after Rio” said Marshall due to a contentious points loss to Netherlands’ Nouchka Fontjin. Despite the disappointment of 2016, her natural talent was noticed instantly by Floyd Mayweather Jr who signed her up to his promotion company Mayweather Promotions.
After signing with Mayweather, the 2014 commonwealth gold medallist made her professional debut on the biggest stage possible, the undercard of Floyd Mayweather Vs Connor McGregor. The self-proclaimed ‘Silent Assassin’ reflected on the experience saying, “to have an experience like that, nothing is really going to phase me now”. After her first bout as a professional, she parted ways with Mayweather promotions, opting to come home to England where she has remained with her current trainer Peter Fury, the uncle of the WBC world heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury.
Now four years into her professional career, Marshall remains a figurehead of the middleweight division under the watchful eye of Peter Fury, ready to make her second defence of her WBO strap and being the first blemish on the otherwise untouched record of Muzeya. Six months from her last bout, the champion seems more confident than ever claiming “I’ve been working on quite a lot of things in the gym, I’m expecting Lolita to come and stick it on me, it’s just about keeping calm, we’ve got 10 rounds to go, I never go there looking to knock someone out, I’m just looking to go out there and showing my skillset, I know what I’m capable of and I know what I’m good at”
Someone who will most definitely be watching on this Saturday will be the aforementioned Clarissa Shields. The American who holds eight world title belts across two weight divisions has been hunting a rematch with Marshall after their 2012 amateur bout, in which the Brit came out on top. This remains the only loss on the record of the 26-year-old Michigan native in both the amateur or professional game.
Shields recently appeared on the Mike Tyson podcast where she had many things to say against the Brit. “I have heard about it but my day’s busy enough rather than searching up her” insisted Marshall, “Clarissa always puts me down, but it’s all different when you get in there with someone”.
Although the talk surrounding the fight is all about her future opponents, Marshall remained professional as always as she insisted “If I was Lolita, I would be sat there thinking it is disrespectful so I can see it from that point of view, but it doesn’t really affect my focus towards Saturday’s fight, Saturday night is my time to show the world what I can do”.