Savannah Marshall wants Claressa Shields rematch at heavyweight
Savannah Marshall hopes to face Claressa Shields again in 2025.
Savannah Marshall is hoping that a move to “heavyweight” — which really means light heavyweight, but it doesn’t matter much — will entice Claressa Shields into a rematch this year.
The two met as middleweights in 2022.
From Sky Sports:
“I think I’ll follow suit with Claressa, go up. Hopefully that sets up that fight again. ... I went over to MMA hoping to catch her there, that hasn’t materialized. Get a fight in March and then hopefully her in the summer.”
Marshall, who believes she’d have no problem carrying the extra weight because “the pool’s so shallow with competition,” also believes — and rightly so — that it’s “the biggest fight out there” for both she and Shields.
Shields defeated Marshall in Oct. 2022 in a long-awaited rematch from their amateur days, where Marshall had beaten Shields before Claressa became the clear top dog at their weight.
Shields (15-0, 3 KO) has boxed twice since beating Marshall, with a middleweight defense against Maricela Cornejo in summer 2023, and one last summer at “heavyweight” and light heavyweight against Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse, where Shields found herself against an opponent so hopelessly outclassed that she scored her first stoppage win since her fourth pro fight in 2017.
Shields is currently set to face Danielle Perkins on Feb. 2 in Flint, Michigan, her hometown.
Marshall (13-1, 10 KO) hasn’t boxed since the summer of 2023, when she beat Franchon Crews-Dezurn to briefly become the undisputed super middleweight champion.