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Boxing

Claressa Shields reveals chance for Savannah Marshall rematch

Alexander Netherton
Claressa Shields reveals chance for Savannah Marshall rematchGettyImages

Claressa Shields says she ‘doesn’t respect’ the knockout record of her upcoming opponent Savannah Marshall.

The pair are due to fight on September 10 at the O2 arena in one of the biggest fights of the year.

Marshall has 10 knockouts in 12 fights while Shields has stopped two of her opponents in her 12 professional boxing match-ups.

Discussing  whether she respects Marshall’s record, she told Sky Sports: "Absolutely not.

"You have to look at the opposition. I accept her knockouts but I don't respect them because of the opponents that they came against.

"In my 12 fights I fought against girls who were undefeated, girls who were champions.

"I went in there against girls who I wasn't supposed to beat early in my career and I destroyed them whether it was a knockout or not."

Shields holds the WBA, WBC and IBF middleweight belts, with Marshall the WBO champion.

The three-belt titlist explained why she thinks she can become undisputed.

"Her first weakness is underestimating me," Shields explained. "That's the first and I think her mindset has stayed in 2012 at the World Championships in China [when Marshall beat her in the amateurs]. For all these years she hasn't been able to move forward from there. She also has been declining as far as her skill.

"I know I'm going to go in there and look phenomenal and I know I'm going to go in there and land the big shots and be in control of the fight like I always do."

"I think now my knockout journey starts and I'll be knocking out girls from here on out."

Shields continued by suggesting there could yet be a rematch.

"We got it in the contract,” she explained. “She can start the whole rematch clause thing or whatever. It's no big deal. This isn't my first rodeo, this is my third undisputed fight. I'll be just enjoying it and if we have to fight two times, three times or fight just once it really doesn't matter to me, I'm going to win all the time," she said.

"We're going to put on a show not just for women's boxing but for boxing as a whole."

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