Savannah Marshall was an undisputed boxing champion, but expects her next fight to be in MMA; Marshall will also be on a scouting mission to watch her great rival Claressa Shields' next bout in PFL and insists if they fought in four-ounce MMA gloves, the outcome would be different
Thursday 15 February 2024 13:09, UK
Savannah Marshall’s pursuit of Claressa Shields continues in a second sport.
Shields and Marshall are fierce rivals, who boxed as amateurs and had an outstanding undisputed world title fight as professional boxers.
Marshall lost by unanimous decision but has long called for a rematch with the American.
Even though both have made their names as pro boxers, and will continue their respective boxing careers, both have also signed with MMA promotion PFL.
Marshall will go on a scouting mission to make sure she has a front-row seat to watch Shields' next bout in PFL.
"I'm going to be there cageside, having a look, sizing her up," Marshall told Sky Sports.
"I'm under no illusions why they've signed me. They haven't looked at me and thought she'll be a brilliant MMA fighter. They've signed me because there's potential for me to fight Claressa in the smartcage isn't there? That's why they've signed me."
That is exactly what Marshall wants.
"I come up short in the boxing so I want another stab, so why not in a new sport altogether," the Briton said.
She does think that their attributes will match up differently in an MMA contest with Shields.
"I really do. I'm interested to see how much she's come on," Marshall said. "I really want to see how she's improved if she has.
"For anyone to switch sports takes a lot of guts, especially from what she's achieved in her boxing career.
"She's striving for greatness, isn't she? So all the best to her and I think she's taken her speed over to PFL so I'm sure she'll do big things."
Marshall does hit hard and believes that against Shields her punches will be even more effective in the small MMA gloves.
"Well, I've got to land first which is something that I didn't do in boxing but little four-ounce gloves, they're practically half the size. So definitely, a lot more damage to be inflicted," she said with a smile.
"When you put them on and there's nothing in them at all and you think, wow, these are dangerous."
Marshall is training diligently at a mixed martial arts gym. She now expects to fight next in an MMA contest in the summer and only box again later in the year.
"I was hoping to fight in March [in] boxing but unfortunately that hasn't come off so I'll be fighting in June making my MMA debut with the PFL," she said.
"It's looking like the back end of the year now [for her next boxing bout], just as long as I get out before the end of the year I'll be happy."
While MMA is entirely new to her, Marshall insists she is enjoying the experience.
"Sometimes in training, I feel good and I think yeah I'm getting it now and other times I'm getting tapped like that and I think: 'Jesus I am terrible at this.' It's exciting for me because it's new," she said.
"It's BJJ, you've got kickboxing, you've got judo, wrestling so it's a mix of all these different sports that I've never ever tried."
Even getting taken down in sparring hasn't phased her.
"They were just shooting straight for me and I couldn't even see them coming because I wasn't used to it," she said.
"At the start, I was just overwhelmed by it. Now as the weeks have gone on I can look back and think right I was making so many mistakes at the start. Now I'm not.
"It's exciting, it's new, it's something that I'm really interested in."
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