Claressa Shields: “Returning to MMA after Beating Savannah Marshall”

BY TSS CORRESPONDENT J.J. ALVAREZ — The American Claressa “T-Rex” Shields has a difficult challenge on October 15 when she will face the also undefeated Brit Savannah “The Silent Assassin” Marshall in a duel at the O2 Arena, in London, England, where the winner will come out as the undisputed queen of 160 pounds.

Shields (12-0-0, 2 KOs) claims that after the fight with Marshall (12-0-0, 10 KOs), next year she will compete in mixed martial arts in the Professional Fighters League (PFL). The league launched its debut season on June 7, 2018, at the Hulu Theater at the legendary Madison Square Garden in New York.

Shields does not hide the fact that her immediate goal is to defeat Marshall in a brawl that goes beyond sports. This fight is personal, as Marshall insists that she will come out with her arm raised yet again, just as happened 10 years ago when they were both amateurs.

“And after fighting Marshall, after beating Marshall, I’ll be going back to the PFL MMA, fighting again, doing the PFL season in 2023. I believe I can be PFL champion in 2023. I just have to have the time to put in the work and prepare. Proper preparation prevents poor performance,” said Shields.

Shields specified that “Boxing is my first love. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to put that down until its time,” she said. “But I’ll say I know in order to be a PFL champion and an MMA champion you have to dedicate some time. I’m willing to dedicate the year 2023 to that and then after 2023 I don’t know if I’ll be doing MMA anymore. The day that another girl says that she can beat me, and I say, ‘OK’ and ‘I agree,’ that’s the day I’ll hang it up. I’m motivated by challenges. I’m motivated by storytelling. I’m motivated just by pushing myself.”

SHIELDS vs MARSHALL, A 2012 REVENGE FIGHT

Shields, 27, who was born in Flint, Michigan, and Marshall, 31, who hails from the port city of Hartlepool, have successfully traveled parallel paths in boxing for pay, but in that time they have not lacked reciprocal interest in seeing each other’s faces again in the ring.

Both met 10 years ago when they were passing through the amateur ranks. Shields lost to Marshall at the 2012 Women’s World Championships in Qin Huangdao, China. The loss resulted in her removal from the single-elimination tournament.

And, as is logical, each has a different interpretation of that confrontation. “I cannot wait. I’ve been waiting for this since I turned pro,” Marshall told Sky Sports. “She can’t handle defeat. I beat her 10 years ago [as amateurs]. She says it doesn’t bother her but when someone is asking, she’s going, ‘She never beat me!’ So I’m thinking, your body language, your tone of voice is saying different. No, she’s not going to take this loss well. She didn’t take the first one well, she’s not going to take the second one well.”

Marshall has eight consecutive knockouts, the most recent in the third round against the Belgian Femke Hermans (13-4-0, 5 KOs) at the Newcastle Arena in Great Britain. A left hook to the head put the Belgian in poor condition and referee Howard Foster stopped the action two minutes into that round.

In October 2020, Marshall captured the vacant WBO belt at 160 pounds by defeating her compatriot Hannah “El Petardo” Rankin (12-5-0, 3 KOs) by TKO at Wembley Arena.

The title belonged to Shields, but it was stripped from her by the sanctioning body when the American decided to provisionally drop to 154 pounds in search of several super welterweight crowns.

Shields refutes Marshall’s comments that she will inflict another loss on her. When asked about the possibility of a loss to Marshall, Shields doesn’t even consider it a possibility. “I don’t even answer those type of questions, because there is no ‘what if I lose,” Shields stated. “I wouldn’t go to the gym if that was the case. I wouldn’t fight her if that was the case. I’m going to win… There is no if. When I win, what’s going to happen? I’m going to shoot into superstardom and continue boxing.”

A double Olympic monarch in London-2012 and Rio de Janeiro-2016, Shields also won the gold medal at the World Championships, held in Astana, Kazakhstan, in the 75-kilo category. She was then 21 years old, the youngest participant among the boxers from the United States.

CLARESSA SHIELDS vs KAYLA HARRISON?

If Claressa Shields defeats Marshall on October 15 at the 02 Arena and decides to finally enter the Professional Fighters League (PFL), she will have a huge obstacle on her way to the title in the 70kg division: Kayla Harrison.

At 32 years old, born in Middleton, Ohio and based in Danvers, Massachusetts, Harrison (15-0-0, 6 KOs) holds the world lightweight belt (155 pounds) that she won on October 27 of last year by winning by submission (armbar) over her compatriot Taylor “Merciless” Guardado at the Seminole Hard Rock and Casino, in Hollywood, Florida.

Coincidentally, that same night, Shields succumbed by unanimous decision to 22-year-old Mexican Abigail “Abby Brave” Montes (3-2-0, 1 KOs). After beating Shields, in a surprise result, the Aztec lost her next two fights in May and July during the elimination rounds this year.

Before trying her luck in MMA, Harrison won the gold medal in the 78-kilogram division in judo at the London-2012 and Rio de Janeiro-2016 Olympic Games. She also won three World Championship titles in that discipline between 2010 and 2016.

Harrison will compete against Brazilian Larissa Pacheco (18-4-0, 9 KOs), in the final of this year’s tournament on November 25, at the Hulu Theater, Madison Square Garden, in the City of Skyscrapers, which will have Pay-Per-Vue (PPV) and will be broadcast on ESPN. The winner will receive one million dollars.

The two clashed twice in 2019 and Harrison came out on top by unanimous decision in both fights. From there, Pacheco added four wins, all before the limit, the most recent by knockout against the Ukrainian Helena “El Cañón” Kolesnyk (7-5-0, 4 KOs), on August 20, at the Copper Box Arena in London.

In the other semi-final, held at the same facility, Harrison defeated Czech Martina Jindrova (6-3-0, 2 KOs) by submission (arm choke).

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Article submitted by Jorge Juan Alvarez in Spanish.

Please note that any errors in translation were completely unintentional.