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At the O2 Arena in London, Claressa Shields became a three-time undisputed champion, the first person to achieve such a feat in either men’s or women’s boxing. Shields defeated Savannah Marshall (12-1, 10 KOs) via unanimous decision to unify all the belts at middleweight in an action-packed slugfest.
Marshall’s plans were clear: overwhelm Shields, push her against the ropes and land power shots. But Shields, who possessed more speed and accuracy, countered Marshall’s constant pressure with rights and lefts that were thrown with all of her strength.
Shields (13-0, 2 KOs) earned the win with scores of 96-94, 97-93 and 97-93, cards that demonstrated her superiority inside the ring.
After the fight, Shields explained that he felt the win was likely locked in after the first half of the fight.
“I just knew I had her because she started talking in there,” Shields said. “When she cut me with the little cut I’ve got, she said ‘ooh Claressa you’re cut’ and I said ‘shut up’ then hit her with a right hand. I let her know like ‘cut me again’ and that this was a dog fight.
“Fight me on the inside or outside, it didn’t matter. I knew I was up from rounds one to five, so the only way she was going to win was if she won the last five rounds. To me she probably only won two rounds, maybe round six and nine.
“[This was] was my third undisputed fight, but this ranks above all of my precious ones. This definitely solidifies my status as the greatest woman of all time. I fought against someone who I have a lot of history with, we were at the world championships and the Olympics together. She’s had a great professional career and I had a great amateur career after losing to her.”