Savannah Marshall v Claressa Shields. It’s a fight that simply has to happen.
And for the man who launched the phenomenal career of the ‘Silent Assassin’ it’s a unification showdown he’d like to see “sooner rather than later”.
Tim Coulter, Marshall’s coach at her hometown club in Hartlepool, hopes the WBO world middleweight champion’s maiden title defence on April 10, against an as yet unnamed opponent, is the prelude to a mega-fight with the American great later this year.
Shields is the holder of three of the four major titles, the WBC, WBA and IBF, while Savannah looked a million dollars in dismantling Hannah Rankin in their clash for the vacant WBO crown at Wembley at the end of October.
The fact Shields failed to stop the tough Scot when they met in an earlier contest has only served to heighten the hopes that Marshall could be the boxer to end the unbeaten record of the self-professed greatest of all time.
Shields, who steps down to light-middleweight on March 3 to tackle Canada’s Marie-Eve Dicaire for the WBA, WBC, IBF & WBO titles, has lost only once in 75 amateur and professional bouts and that was to you-know-who.
“I’d prefer one defence for Savannah, maybe two, then get that big fight,” Coulter told punch-lines.
“I’d certainly like it sooner rather than later.
“Shields is good but, for me, Savannah beats her. She’s done it once and I’m confident she’ll do it next time as well.
“It’s Savannah’s time.”
Coulter set Marshall on the road to glory at Headland ABC in Hartlepool, his young protégé reaching a World Championship final at the age of just 19 when she took silver in Barbados in 2010.
Her greatest moment came two years later when she struck middleweight gold on her 21st birthday in China (defeating Shields comfortably en route), while she completed her amateur-professional world double with that victory over Rankin.
In doing so, the Peter Fury-trained star became the first Briton to achieve that feat inside the ring, much to the pride of Coulter.
“I always knew how good she was, Savannah just needed an opportunity to show it,” said Tim. “After the fight with Hannah, I couldn’t believe some of the stuff I read or heard as though she was some new kid on the block.
“She was brilliant against Hannah. I think Savannah was quite shocked when I said ‘in all the bouts and all the sessions, that’s the best I’ve ever seen you box’.
“When you think of the nerves, the fact she’d not been in a ring for a year, it was a perfect performance. It took a round or two to find her range and timing and then she just went through the gears beautifully.
“She boxed superbly and hit too hard. She’s always been able to dig and that’s a great asset to have.
“Hannah is granite-chinned and Claressa couldn’t put a dent in her, but Savannah became the first girl to stop her.”
Words: Roy Kelly
