Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall could be set to finally meet for the undisputed women’s middleweight championship if they both get through their upcoming fights in February and March.
When speaking exclusively to DAZN, Boxxer’s Ben Shalom revealed his target month for the showdown between two of today's top fighters who have been feuding on social media for quite some time.
“We’re hoping for June. Savannah also has a mandatory that she’ll have to take care of in March, fingers crossed they both come through and set up a huge fight for the division,” Shalom said.
“Savannah headlined a show for us last year and the reaction was incredible.
“I’ve never seen a UK female fighter able to grab a crowd like that, we had 7/8 thousand people in the arena that night, all of them were there for Savannah, that’s remarkable to see for women’s boxing.
“For her to be in a position now where she’s extremely confident, where she’s starting to feel like a superstar which was always a problem for Savannah, she’s such a nice person, but we’re starting to see her grow into her own.”
Shalom then went onto explain why a fight between Shields and Marshall has the potential to capture the imagination of boxing fans across the world.
He said: “They’re almost polar opposites which makes it so intriguing as well, there’s history there.
“Savannah beat Claressa, one of the only people to beat Claressa in the amateurs, obviously hasn’t been beaten as a professional and she struggles for competition.
“It’s one of those readymade fights where the narrative runs deep, two huge characters, but two very different characters, but most importantly elite female boxers.”
In addition to revealing a timeframe, Shalom discussed his desire to stage the fight on home turf for Marshall.
“We’re desperate to do it in Newcastle,” Shalom added.
“We feel like Savannah deserves her moment in the sun, it will be a spectacle and I don’t think Claressa can deny that over here it’s a huge occasion, it’s going to sell a huge amount of tickets.
“We’ll aim for Newcastle, obviously Claressa, she’s very headstrong and has her own ideas, [but we're] very confident it will happen in Newcastle.”