In her own words, Claressa Shields says Savannah Marshall is in for a rude awakening this weekend (Interview: Roy Kelly)
IF SAVANNAH MARSHALL thinks she’s going to run over me, she’s going to get the shock of her life.
I’m going to break it. I can’t believe she underestimated my power and called me pillow fists, so when she lands she’s gonna be like, ‘wow’.
She’s going to be distraught at the amount of power I have, she’s going to be very upset at all the rounds she’s losing. She won’t know what to do, I’ll break her mentally.
He thinks he’s going to run over me, but when he sees how competitive he is, he’ll snap. I can get her out of there, seven, eight, nine or 10.
He has disrespected me online and his fans have trolled me. When she has been face to face with me, I expected her to bring the heat, but no, she is a fan of mine, she likes me and we are great. No, fuck, we’re not.
I want it to have the same energy that it has online on my face. She doesn’t, she’s intimidated by me. She has realized that she has bitten off more than she can chew. Of course she will come out and try to fight – we are fighting in front of 20,000 fans on the biggest stage for women’s boxing, we are in her country, so she better show up and fight.
First, he said he would knock me out in two rounds, but he took that back and now he says he will hurt me and outmatch me. She knows she doesn’t have the tools to knock me out.
I think now he realizes that I have a lot of skills and punching power. She won’t be able to hurt me, she doesn’t hit hard enough.
People make a big deal out of my record, saying, ‘Oh, it was 10 rounds, Claressa, you didn’t knock her out,’ but a win is a win. And when I win it is unanimously, not by majority or division, I am dominant.
These trainers just let their girls take a beating. Ema Kozin took a beating, she wasn’t even competitive. After the sixth round, when we still had four rounds to go, her coach should have known. In six, seven and eight when he hurt her and tripped her up, he didn’t care enough to throw in the towel on her. She took a beating and I was happy to give it to her.
I am happy to be in the UK. You respect the Olympic gold medals and world titles I have won. I told the promoters that this fight is bigger than Newcastle and Savannah Marshall and they agreed: 20,000 fans at The O2 will be a special and historic occasion with all belts on the line. I can’t wait to be the undisputed world champion for the third time.
I am here to prove that I am the best and I would also be happy to beat Marshall in America. But after I beat her on Saturday there will be no rematch, she won’t want it.
It’s in the contract, yes, but it was in the contract with Christina Hammer, but she didn’t come back and neither did Marshall.
What keeps driving me when I’ve won it all? When girls say they can beat me or they say ‘Shields can’t do this’ or ‘they can’t do that’ or they say they can knock me out.
I wouldn’t describe myself as invincible. Unbeatable for sure against all these girls, especially Marshall.
