Ahead of this weekend’s middleweight title fight between Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall, both fighters showed up for a final press conference to continue their war of words leading into the fight.
Much has been said of Marshall carrying the reputation as the puncher in this fight, but on the dais Shields looked directly at Marshall and emphasized that she’ll be the one doing damage if the fighters start mixing it up.
“I don’t know why you think you’re so big and so strong. Knocking out all these bums… It’s comical. You stand with me, you’re going to be the one asleep,” Shields said to Marshall.
Shields, of course, has only scored two stoppages in her 12 fights as a professional boxer, but believes her skill and accuracy make her much more likely to land during exchanges where she can put a hurting on Marshall.
At the press conference Marshall wasn’t looking to take the bait from Shields, simply saying she’s looking to box her fight, knowing that she’ll eventually hurt Shields with a good shot that will create more openings for her. And whichever way it goes, we’ll find out when the two fighters collide on Saturday.