What has been heralded as the most significant women’s bout in British boxing history is, to say the least, in limbo.
The death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday and the UK’s official mourning could very well prompt a postponement of the showdown between Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall. Shields (12-0, 2 KOs), of Flint, Michigan, and Marshall (12-0, 10 KOs), of Hartlepool, England, are scheduled to headline a women’s card Saturday night at London’s O2 Arena. .
Shields, 27, and Marshall, 31, took part in a news conference Thursday afternoon in London. The death of Queen Elizabeth II, who was 96, was announced later on Thursday, leaving promoters of the Shields-Marshall card grappling with the possible postponement of her.
The event had not been officially postponed until Thursday night in the UK. BoxingScene.com has learned that all fighters on the card will weigh in on Friday morning, should they be granted permission to continue with the event.
Sky Sports is supposed to televise the Shields-Marshall show on Saturday night in the UK and Ireland. ESPN is under contract to broadcast it in the United States on Saturday afternoon.
Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-division champion as a professional, held out hope Thursday night for a chance to avenge her only loss as an amateur or professional boxer by beating Marshall in their 12-round fight. , 160-pound title unification fight. The hard-hitting Marshall defeated Shields on points, 14-8, at the 2012 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championship, but Shields has not lost a boxing match since that loss to Marshall 10 years ago.
The Shields-Marshall undercard is supposed to feature another title unification fight between Mikaela Mayer and Alycia Baumgardner.
Mayer (17-0, 5 KOs), of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Baumgardner (12-1, 7 KOs), of Bingham Farms, Michigan, are contracted to fight for Baumgardner’s WBC and IBO belts and the IBF and WBO. de Mayer 130- pound championships. His 10-round co-feature would remain part of the Shields-Marshall card if it needs to be rescheduled.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
