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Nick Parkinson
Savannah Marshall made quick work of Femke Hermans on Saturday, stopping her with a crunching left hook in the third round to set up a summer showdown with rival world middleweight champion Claressa Shields.
Marshall made a third defense of her WBO world middleweight title with a stunning knockout of Hermans, who took Shields to points in 2018, in front of her home fans at the Newcastle Arena in England, and attention immediately turned to a clash with Shields to crown an undisputed world middleweight champion.
Shields had travelled from the United States to be ringside, and after Marshall’s triumph the pair squared up and resumed their verbal hostilities ahead of what will be one of the biggest fights in the history of women’s boxing.
Shields-Marshall will see all four world title belts on the line in a grudge match. The pair have a long history: Marshall beat Shields when they were amateurs in 2012.
Marshall (12-0, 10 KOs), 30, from Hartlepool, County Durham, is probably the biggest puncher in women’s boxing and was last taken to points in October of 2018.
“There’s no one else in the way between me and Claressa, it’s me and Claressa in the summer,” Marshall said.
“Claressa can’t handle my power. I believe I severely hurt Claressa. It’s Great Britain versus America. It’s got to happen here in the northeast [of England].
“After I beat her, they will have to call me GWOAT.”
Ben Shalom, of U.K.-based promotional company BOXXER, hopes to confirm details of Shields-Marshall in a few days.
“It’s a matter of days, we want it to happen here in Newcastle, and it’s going to be a classic, we are looking at late June, early July,” Shalom said.
“We have been working very hard to make this fight and it will happen. Claressa is a special talent and she won’t shy away from a challenge, and you have a puncher like Savannah, which is what makes it such a great fight.”
St James’ Park, the outdoor stadium of English Premier League side Newcastle United in the northeast of England, is being considered as a possible venue.
WBC, WBA and IBF world middleweight Shields (12-0, 2 KOs), 27, from Flint, Michigan, has amassed a big collection of belts since turning professional after winning a second Olympic gold medal in 2016. But a clash against Marshall, who boxed at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics without winning a medal, will be the biggest fight of Shields’ boxing career, which she now combines with a mixed martial arts (MMA) career (she had two MMA fights last year).
Three-weight world champion Shields, who outpointed Ema Kozin in February for a fourth middleweight title defense, said: “I’m not Femke Hermans or any of the other girls she has fought. As much punch power as she got, if that’s all she’s got it’s going to be a wipeout. She’s going to have trouble with me and she’s definitely not going to knock me out. No, she’s not the biggest puncher. It’s not going to take a single punch to beat me.
“Femke made her miss and I’m 19 times faster than Femke so what do you think I’m going to do?”
Shields suggested that if she is going to travel to England for the fight, she would then prefer to fight Marshall away from Newcastle and in London.
Hermans (12-4, 5 KOs), 32, from Londerzeel in Belgium, won the WBO world super middleweight title in 2018 and Marshall opted to make a steady start as she assessed the danger of her challenger.
Marshall was then more aggressive in the second round and the pair had some big exchanges through the third round. Hermans met Marshall’s punches with swift counterattacks, but the strategy cost her toward the end of the third round.
Marshall rocked Hermans with a stiff jab and moments later flattened her opponent with a left hook, as Hermans attempted to throw the same punch.
The fight was stopped in the last second of the third round for Marshall’s eighth successive KO win.
“Femke is a brilliant fighter, but I knew if I caught her I could cause her trouble,” Marshall said.
“I never go looking for knockouts, they just find me.”