WBO middleweight champion Savannah Marshall will not be intimidated when she comes face to face with Claressa Shields, according to BOXXER promoter Ben Shalom.
Shields, who owns the WBC, WBA, IBF titles at 160, will make her UK debut on December 11 – as she and Marshall will co-headline a card to build the hype for their 2022 unification showdown.
Shields will first take part in her second fight in mixed martial arts on Wednesday night, as part of a PFL card in Florida.
Then she will start preparing to defends her world titles against mandatory challenger Ema Kozin on scheduled doubleheader in the UK.
Marshall was in action earlier this month, when she blasted out Lolita Muzeya in two rounds.
The two fighters have been trading words for years, with Marshall being the only fighter to hand Shields a loss – back when they were amateurs.
A confrontation is expected when they come face to face, at some point, during the December event.
“People don’t realize how headstrong Savannah is. She won’t take any rubbish. She’s sick of Claressa,” Shalom told Sky Sports. “Claressa is one of the best-known fighters in the sport but Savannah is convinced that she’s better than her. Claressa is very antagonistic in person – that’s her nature. She is very confrontational. We know they don’t like each other.
“But they are also both elite athletes who want to prove who’s the best in the sport. Claressa has struggled to find opponents worthy of fighting her, which led her to MMA. Now this is an extraordinary opportunity for her because, in Savannah, she might have met her match. They know each other from the amateurs. It was a very easy fight to make because they both want it. They both know it’s a legacy fight, the best fight out there.”
“We did a deal with Salita Promotions for a two-fight deal with Claressa. She has a mandatory that she has to take care of. We are looking for an extremely tough fight for Savannah too. We want all the belts on the line.”