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Exclusive: Claressa Shields vs Savannah Marshall set for September with London favourite

Claressa Shields

Promoter Ben Shalom caught up with Planet Sport and he revealed the super-fight between Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall will happen this year.

The two fighters have held a rivalry ever since Savannah Marshall became the first and only person to defeat Claressa Shields in a boxing ring.

Back in 2012, Marshall beat the American in the amateurs and in recent years have been linked to a fight as professionals.

Shields is the quickest three-division world champion in boxing history (10 fights) while Marshall - the current WBO middleweight champion - has built up her reputation as one of the biggest punchers in female boxing under Peter Fury.

The pair were set to collide for all four major belts at middleweight this summer but the fight has been delayed due to an injury sustained by Marshall.

She had surgery on the undisclosed arm injury - something Shields accused her rival of 'faking'.

Sky Sports promoter and CEO of BOXXER Ben Shalom provided an exclusive update and has confirmed the fight is on.

"The situation is that Savannah will be ready for early September - the fight is definitely going to happen, we're looking forward to it and it's going to be a massive fight. It's going to be well worth the wait," Shalom told Planet Sport at the PFL 's MMA press conference in London.

"Obviously we're into wintertime (on it not being at St. James' Park). I'd like it to be at the O2 (London) so it's either going to be at Newcastle Arena or the O2 depending on what date we work out."

Shields pound-for-pound best

There is much debate as to who the best fighter in female boxing is.

Katie Taylor's win over Amanda Serrano has placed her at the top of Ring Magazine's pound-for-pound rankings but Shalom believes Shields edges it due to her achievements.

"For me, Claressa has to be number one because of what she's achieved so quickly and she's 26 years old, a two-time Olympic champion and I don't think we've seen that before.

"She's obviously not met her biggest test yet in Savannah Marshall so who knows what maintains but there's a lot of amazing female fighters in the sport whether it's Katie Taylor, Serrano, Shields or Savannah Marshall - there never used to be this strength and depth but we're starting to see it in the sport and it's amazing."

Best stable in women's boxing

Shalom - who has promoted Natasha Jonas' world title win at her third attempt on the undercard of Brook-Khan - admitted he found Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano's fight at Madison Square Garden 'inspiring'.

"I really enjoyed that show Taylor-Serrano, I thought it was a brilliant fight, amazing for women's boxing and we've invested heavily as well in Lauren Price, Savannah Marshall, Natasha Jonas.
"I feel like we've got the strongest women's stable in all of boxing and now we have the opportunity to put on a super-fight and it's perfect timing because we've seen how big that women's sport can now be and we believe we have the biggest rivalry in the sport.
"It's a really intriguing fight and I think it's the first to have all of those elements together which I think why it is the only thing I'm asked about at the minute."

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