A special fight deserves special preparation, so BOXXER chartered a boat to take their bitter rivals Savannah Marshall and Claressa Shields, plus a host of British media, up the River Thames for open training and shadow showdowns. of London’s iconic Tower Bridge. .
Joining the crew on the ‘BOXXER Battleship’ were event co-main fighters Mikaela Mayer and Alycia Baumgardner and some of the featured British fighters from the iconic arll-female card, including Lauren Price, Karriss Artingstall, Carlone Dubois, April Hunter , Georgia O. Connor and Ebonie Jones.
As the city’s main sights passed by, the assortment of stars took to the ring for a pre-competition workout on Saturday in front of the assembled media and a platoon of stars from the world of female spotting, including Fara Williams. , England’s most capped female soccer player. 400m player and Olympic gold medalist Christine Ohuruogo.
Super featherweight champions Mikaela Mayer and Alycia Baumgardner also clashed before their clash on Saturday night, with the pair trading blows on social media for months, coming to an explosive conclusion this weekend at the O2 Arena. live on Sky Sports.
Savannah Marshall said: “She’s said a lot about me, but it doesn’t bother me, it doesn’t bother me. I don’t care what she thinks about anything, she’s not one of my friends or family, so her opinion means nothing to me. We’ll talk in the ring on Saturday night: I’ll take her to deep water and drown her in the Thames.”
Claressa Shields said: “I have always said that women’s boxing can sell and that I was the one. It’s almost sold out, there will be almost 20,000 fans at the O2 Arena and I’ve been training to the bone. I want all the smoke and when I leave the ring on Saturday night, Savannah Marshall will be silenced and I will be the undisputed middleweight champion of the world.”
Fara Williams, England’s most capped female footballer: “This event is incredible and shows how far women’s sport has come a few years ago. BOXXER has taken a lot of risk here and it’s good that it was done. It will be a historic event in front of 20,000 people, and there will be an undisputed middleweight champion. And hopefully an English one too.”
Christine Ohuruogu, 400m Olympic Gold Medalist: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in boxing. A card from all women, never happened before. Let’s hope that events like this in boxing happen again. This follows the incredible women’s soccer of the summer. I am very happy to see women’s sport with such a positive momentum.”
Tickets for the event are nearly sold out, with a small batch remaining in the £25 category. A full house is expected at the London 02 Arena on Saturday night for this historic moment in women’s sport.
VIDEO: By Legacy: Shields vs. Marshall [Full Documentary]
The extraordinary and bitter rivalry of Savannah Marshall and Claressa Shields has been revealed in a revealing and revealing documentary.
Produced by BOXXER, the riveting report reveals the characteristics of both world champions and what drives them in their quest to become the undisputed best in the world, less than a week before the most anticipated female woman of all time.
Featuring exclusive interviews and never-before-seen footage, the film, now live on YouTube, hear from both fighters, their camps and learn all about how their incredible decade-long feud began, with both predicting how it will end at The O2 in London. on Saturday September 10.
Hear their contrasting stories as Hartlepool-born Savannah Marshall details how she battled her shyness as a youngster to be crowned WBO middleweight champion of the world.
And American two-time Olympic gold medalist and current WBC, IBF and WBA world champion Claressa Shields talks about her harrowing upbringing as a child, which propelled her to global stardom.
PLUS, hear from the likes of BOXXER CEO and Founder Ben Shalom, Peter Fury, Dan Savage, Spencer Oliver and more as they deliver their verdicts ahead of this titanic, Atlantic-wide brawl taking place in the capital in just over one week.
Marshall Savannah
On his beginnings in boxing, at age 12: “I grew up very athletic. I played soccer, netball… but [aged 12] I walked into a boxing gym because one of my friends had a little plastic trophy that I saw shine in the sun. And I thought, I want one of them. Curiosity got the best of me. I was more curious than anything. I remember walking up the steps of the gym, listening to loud music and hitting bags. He was standing at the door looking through the glass, thinking he wanted to get in. Looking back now, and considering how painfully shy we were at that age, I can’t believe he did that.”
On Claressa Shields claiming to be the GWOAT (greatest woman of all time): “Claressa is quite funny. There is nothing she can do or say that will affect me.”
On discovering his renowned blunt punch: “I remember when I was younger, one month my mom got a discount on some steaks. And that was all we ate: steak and fries, steak pie, steak stew, steak and meatballs… you name it, we had it. So that must be why.”
On not being ‘shy’: “Everyone talks about the evolution of Savannah Marshall. I’ve gone from being a relative mute to being the not-so-silent killer.”
On working with Peter Fury: “I always knew I could dig. But when I got to train with Peter, he taught me how to hit properly.”
Claressa Shields
On losing to Savannah Marshall as an amateur, her only loss: “It was a whirlwind getting there, but I never gave up. After I lost to Savannah Marshall, I was really mad about it.”
On her heartbreaking upbringing and what led to her success in boxing: “I didn’t talk much growing up. I didn’t speak until I was 5 years old. And then at 11, I started boxing. I look at where I come from, and I come from the bottom, and I don’t think people realize what the bottom is. I won the Olympics. But before I left home, I didn’t even have a bed to sleep in.”
“I went through some things growing up. I was sexually abused when I was 5 years old. That made me very angry and confused me with people. I didn’t have a bed until after the Olympics, and that was at 17. From 14 to 17, and even before that, I slept on the floor. People wonder why I’m so hungry, it’s because it’s what I have to do for myself. If I hadn’t, my family and I would have been poor forever. With the skills I have, I was never going to settle for that. I knew he was going to do something with them. He had to win the Olympics. He had to win world championships. I don’t hate these girls, but they have to understand how much I have to earn. They just don’t get it.”
ben shalom
“Look at the difference now in Savannah in her professional days. He has gone from being in the middle of the cards to headlining events and packing out stadiums, including his hometown of Newcastle, that he could only have dreamed of. I think this is the greatest women’s fight of all time. But this is definitely the biggest rivalry in women’s boxing history.”
spencer oliver
“When I first met Savannah it was in 2010 when she was boxing for England and we saw her in Sheffield. It was me, Johnny Nelson and Adam Smith. We all went up to see Savannah because she was an incredibly talented girl, but she didn’t believe in herself. Trust was a huge problem. If you don’t believe in yourself in boxing, you’re in trouble. You need that confidence in yourself. But she found out, and she did by teaming up with Peter Fury. It is an incredible journey from where she has come to where she is now. She is arguably the best female fighter in the world, and we will find out.”
peter fury
“She is the perfect student. She is strictly business. Whether it’s diets, training regimens… anything you throw at her, she does. You couldn’t ask for a better person to hang out with and train with. She is a sensible type of person.”
Shields vs Marshall, for the undisputed world title, headlines BOXXER: ‘Legacy’, an all-female historic night of boxing, on Saturday 10th September at The O2 in London, live exclusively on Sky Sports. For tickets visit Boxxer.com
