Savannah Marshall vs Claressa Shields: A bar-raising rivalry for the future of women’s boxing | Boxing News

Disrespect is respect, traded insults are unspoken compliments. A prospective jab-and-clobber, swipe-and-slalom clinic between ‘I’m better than her’ proclaimers in Savannah Marshall and Claressa Shields looms as a win for boxing before another fist is thrown. 

An all-eyes-on-us win for women’s boxing is, too, a win for the world of boxing as borders are blended and a once male-driven scene ushers and urges an escalating and compelling transatlantic rivalry to fruition.

In the space of a month the sport could find itself parading confirmation of a landmark Marshall-Shields showdown, staging Katie Taylor’s pound-for-pound clash with Amanda Serrano and having just witnessed the second victory of rising star Caroline Dubois’s professional career.

Leading narratives in women’s boxing have become leading narratives across boxing in its entirety, and so it will continue to a point where the story of competitive parity is no longer a story at all.

Spare a momentary thought in the meantime for Femke Hermans, who has been deemed anything from stepping stone to bystander as seemingly the final scalp on the road to a Marshall and Shields meeting for the title of undisputed champion.

The Belgian, who lost to Shields by unanimous decision in 2018, faces Marshall for the WBO middleweight crown in Newcastle this Saturday with a view to spoiling a party that looks near-impossible to spoil.

With bad blood and verbal rallies comes division-leading talent from two fighters that, while unlikely to meet for a drink, stand as chief influences in regards to equal pay and exposure for women in sport.

“It’s the first fight in women’s boxing where there’s genuine rivalry and dislike,” said Boxxer promoter Ben Shalom. “I think this is going to go off the scale in terms of women’s boxing.”

How did we get here?

What makes a boxing rivalry? A willing igniter of insult back-and-forthing helps, a social media hoo-ha is handy these days, a cryptic ring-side appearance can get the ball rolling, and an amateur dust-up to bludgeon as a constant reference point always does the trick.

Ticking the aforementioned boxes can often equate to unofficial contract negotiations; Marshall and Shields can attest to the lot. So we are well on the way.

Marshall’s ‘I’m the best’ claim stems from inflicting Shields’ sole career defeat at the age of 17 during their amateur days at the 2012 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships, while Shields likes to dangle her two Olympic gold medals and two World Championship gold medals in the face of the Silent Assassin, who suffered an upset defeat in the quarter-finals as favourite at the 2012 Games.

A rematch had been on the cards at the 2014 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships only for Marshall to lose to Iaroslava Iakushina, who Shields would go on to beat in the quarter-finals en route to clinching the top prize. Hopes of the two meeting at the 2016 Rio Olympics were then dashed again as Marshall was eliminated by Nouchka Fontijn of the Netherlands.

There were brief murmurs of a potential meeting a couple of years into their respective professional careers – Marshall turning pro in 2017 and Shields in 2016 – but it amounted to nothing. And maybe the right time was yet to present itself. Maybe the right time is now.

Both signing with Sky Sports and Boxxer was a pace-gathering tease towards the ‘right time’ approaching, promoter Shalom admitting this week it was the “first fight we wanted to make” upon the union.

‘I beat you’ vs ‘where are your medals?’ evolved last year when Shields claimed that she had “whupped” and “pulverised” Marshall in a sparring session ahead of the 2016 Games, prompting a “when has Claressa ever battered anyone?” denial. Here we go…

Behind-the-back whispers became a full-frontal slanging match in February when Marshall was pictured mockingly-yawning ringside during Shields’ win over Ema Kozin in Cardiff before sparking a fiery exchange by insisting she would “wipe the floor” with her rival. Shields hit back by pointing to “easy opponents”, labelling Marshall’s disrespect as a sign of “weakness” and, again, reminding her of that medal haul. Game on…

They dislike one another because they have to. Weaved between the unflattering words is appreciation of the reality that the other holds the key to their next step, and perhaps even their legacy. Appreciation of the fact one must beat the other in their prime.

Conflicting styles?

Style make fights, and it is varying styles that adds substance to this fight in a way few others in the pipeline this year can match.

Marshall has the height and flaunts the power, timing and Peter Fury-cultivated punching conviction; Shields prides herself on speed, precision and slick technique, enhanced by the pace at which she learns, that enables her to balance combat disciplines.

In her last fight Marshall endured a frenetic first-round assault from Lolita Muzeya, biding her time and absorbing the early assault before rocking the Zambian with a thumping uppercut just shy of the bell and capitalising in the second until the referee was forced to step in. Here was the knockout merchant as advertised, with the toughness to weather a storm and the composure to perfect her retaliation.

Shields presents a different challenge, a more elusive challenge that awaits as another test of not only Marshall’s patience but also her ability to dictate the tempo of the fight and jab her way to rounds if necessary.

The American’s last fight was unspectacular and firework-lacking, but Marshall was able to yawn at ringside because Shields allowed her to yawn. She poked and prodded Kozin, accepting the clinical yet punishment-free shots she was landing and inviting her young opponent to open up in reply. The combinations were smooth, mechanical and made a little too nonchalant, to where it was only when Kozin braved spells on the front foot that it became a contest.

She could afford to leave the gritty, mean streak in reserve for a rainy day. A mean streak that is there just like the unexhausted precision Marshall is capable of bringing to the table if required.

Serrano made history in 2019 when she recorded a first-round TKO against Eva Voraberger to become the first women boxer to win world titles in seven weight classes; Laila Ali, daughter of Muhammad Ali, vs Jacqui Frazier-Lyde, daughter of Joe Frazier, delivered the nostalgia factor in 2001; Shields dominated Christina Hammer in 2019 to become the second woman of the four-belt era to win all the major world titles in one division; Taylor prevailed in a brutal encounter with Delfine Persoon in 2019 to become the first ever undisputed female lightweight champion.

Women’s boxing has had great nights, but 2022 looks to be its biggest showcase year yet.

And while Taylor and Serrano battle for pound-for-pound honours as fellow boxing greats and trailblazers in a bout heightened by its cancellation in 2020, never has women’s boxing offered a rivalry as intense and as enthralling as that of Marshall and Shields.

There was once a time Marshall and Shields would find themselves somewhat isolated as the only female fighters in male-dominated gyms growing up. Their story is one of ridicule and doubts to headline acts.

But, for now, Femke Hermans has the chance to put everything on hold.