WEEK OF FIGHT
Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall will finally meet as professionals in a middleweight title unification fight a decade after Marshall outpointed a teenage Shields in an amateur tournament.
CLARESSA SHIELDS (12-0, 2 KO) VS. SAVANNAH MARSHALL (12-0, 10 KOs)
When: Saturday, September 10 Time: 3pm ET / Noon PT (main event later in the show) Where: O2 Arena, London TV/Broadcast: ESPN+ Division: Middleweight (160lbs) Rounds: 10 (two-minute rounds ) Odds: Marshall de Shields’ IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO titles Odds: Even (average of multiple outlets) Also on the card: Mikaela Mayer vs. Alycia Baumgardner, junior lightweight (for IBF, Mayer’s WBO and Baumgardner’s WBC titles) Prediction: Shields UD Background: Marshall outpointed Shields the only time they met in the ring, but that was as amateurs in 2012, when Shields was 17 years old. Much has changed. Shields, who had never lost before or since the setback against Marshall, became a two-time Olympic gold medalist, a three-division champion as a pro and a face of combat sports. The 27-year-old from Flint, Michigan has won world titles in two divisions and is 7-0 in title fights, 4-0 against previous or current champions. He has barely lost a round in his career, which includes at least seven shutout decisions to go with two knockouts in his 12 fights (some records are sketchy). Shields is coming off a shutout decision over Ema Kozin in defense of her 160-pound titles. She is also 1-1 in mixed martial arts fights. Marshall, 31, was a 2012 world champion and two-time Olympian for her native England, but lost her first fight in 2012 and her second in 2016. She won the vacant WBO middleweight title by defeating Hannah Rankin in seven rounds in October 2020 and has successfully defended her belt three times, all by knockout against Maria Lindberg, Lolita Muzeya and Femke Hermans, to set up the showdown with Shields. The last fight took place in April. Saturday’s fight will be in London, some 250 miles south of Marshall’s hometown of Hartlepool. Also on the card, 2016 U.S. Olympian Mikaela Mayer (17-0, 5 KO) and her compatriot Alycia Baumgardner (12-1, 7 KO) will battle to unify all junior lightweight titles.
ALSO FIGHTING THIS WEEK
THURSDAY
Yokasta Valle vs. Thi Thu Nhi Nguyen, strawweight (for Valle’s IBF and Nguyen’s WBO titles), San Jose, Costa Rica (DAZN).
FRIDAY
Joseph Adorno vs. Hugo Alberto Roldan, junior welterweight, Atlantic City, New Jersey (Showtime). Josh Wagner vs. Jorge Pérez Sánchez, welterweight, Brampton, Canada (DAZN). Brandon Glanton vs. Mario Aguilar, cruiserweight, Plant City, Florida (ProBox TV). Christian Mbilli vs. DeAndre Ware, super middleweight, Montreal (ESPN+).
SATURDAY
Sukhdeep Chakria Singh vs. Xhuljo Vrenozi, middleweight, Brampton, Canada (DAZN). Austin McBroom vs. AnEson Gib, cruiserweight, Los Angeles (pay-per-view). Also, Le’Veon Bell vs. Adrian Peterson, exhibition.
