Claressa Shields vs Savannah Marshall Preview October 15th, 2022
Unbeaten Savannah Marshall of Hartlepool, England meets undefeated Claressa Shields of Flint, Michigan for the undisputed world women’s middleweight championship at the O2 Arena in London, England this Saturday, October 15th. The 10-round bout was originally scheduled for September but was postponed due to the death of Queen Elizabeth. It can be seen live in the UK on Sky Sports Action while those in America can catch it on ESPN+. Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medallist and three-weight world champion, last fought in February when she beat Ema Kozin via a 10-round unanimous decision while Marshall last saw action in April when she stopped Femke Hermans in the third round. Marshall will be putting her WBO Middleweight Title on the line while Shields’ WBF, WBC, WBA and Ring Crowns will be up for grabs. This is a grudge match as Marshall handed Shields the lone amateur loss of her career when she beat her on points at the 2012 Women’s World Championships.
Shields vs Marshall Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Claressa Shields -115
- Savannah Marshall -105
My Pick
The 31-year-old Marshall enters the bout with a perfect mark of 12-0 with 10 Ko’s and has boxed 44 rounds since turning pro in 2018. She enjoyed a fine amateur career and boxed at the 2012 Olympics in London and the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro but failed to take home a medal. However, she did capture numerous Commonwealth, European and World medals and amateur titles including gold at the 2012 World Championships and bronze at the 2016 World Championships. Marshall considered giving up the sport following her 2016 Olympic disappointment but turned pro with Floyd Mayweather’s promotional stable and after just one fight signed with Hennessy Sports.
She started boxing at the age of 12 and is trained by Peter Fury, an uncle of Tyson Fury. Marshall stands just under six-feet-tall but unfortunately has an unlisted reach. She reportedly went 61-16 as an amateur with no Ko’s but has stopped 10 of her 12 pro opponents for a highly impressive knockout ratio of 83.3 per cent. Marshall captured the vacant WBO Middleweight Belt in October, 2020 by stopping Hannah Rankin in the seventh round and has defended it three times.
The 27-year-old Shields carries around the same perfect record of 12-0 but has just 2 Ko’s to her name for a current knockout ratio of just 16.7 per cent. She’s boxed 101 rounds since making her pro debut in 2017 after reportedly going 77-1 as an amateur. Shields won gold at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics as a middleweight and as a pro she holds the record for becoming a two and three-weight world champion in the fewest professional contests and is the only boxer in history to hold four major world titles (WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO) at the same time in two different weight classes.
As an amateur, she also won gold at the 2014 and 2016 World championships as well as the 2015 Pan American Games, where she took it as a light heavyweight. Since turning pro, she became the undisputed middleweight champion in 2019 by beating Christina Hammer and the undisputed light-middleweight champion two years later by beating Marie Eve Dicaire. From 2017 to 2018 she was also the unified IBF and WBC Super Middleweight Champion. Shields stands 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 68-inch reach so will be giving up 3.5-inches in height to Marshall.
Prediction…
Shields was just 17 years old when Marshall beat her as an amateur and has used her boxing skills to get where she is as a pro while Marshall has taken advantage of her power as a pro. Ironically, this is the opposite of their amateur careers as Shields displayed more power then while Marshall depended on her skills. At this stage I believe Shields is the better boxer but she’s fighting in England where there have been some atrocious refereeing and judging decisions recently. For Shields to be given the nod on points she’s going to need to get inside and more or less dominate proceedings. It’s going to be an interesting fight but Shields should take it.
Shields is in her prime, has slightly better skills and is highly motivated.
Play: Shields -115 @ BetOnline.ag
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Claressa Shields betting • Savannah Marshall betting