Claressa Shields-Savannah Marshall fight rescheduled for October

The wait continues, but fortunately for fight fans, it’ll be over soon.

ESPN announced Tuesday that the undisputed middleweight championship boxing match between Flint’s Claressa Shields and Britain’s Savannah Marshall is officially slated to go down live from The O2 in London on Saturday, Oct. 15.

The bout was originally scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 10 but was postponed by the British Boxing Board of Control “as a mark of respect” following the death of Queen Elizabeth II two days prior. 

BOXXER: LEGACY - Shields vs. Marshall is Britain’s first-ever full-female fight card and will stream stateside on ESPN Plus. The card begins at 4:30 p.m. locally and also features a junior lightweight title unification match between WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine champion Mikaela Mayer and WBC champion Alycia Baumgardner, who fights out of Detroit.

There was a small amount of concern over rescheduling the fight, as Shields, who debuted as a mixed martial artist in the Professional Fighters League in June 2021, had previously said she would return to MMA at the PFL Finals in November. 

Shields’ fight with Marshall will finally give one party of this age-long feud claim to the title of greatest female boxer of all time. Both fighters are 12-0 professionally, but Marshall has a 1-0 lead on Shields head-to-head, dating back to their amateur days. Marshall handed Shields the only loss of her 65-fight amateur career at the 2012 AIBA Women’s World Championship prelims. 

Though Marshall has 10 knockouts as a pro to Shields’ two, Shields has built a much fuller trophy case in the time since. Marshall has earned just one world title in her career, winning the vacant WBO middleweight title with a seventh-round TKO with three successful defenses. 

Shields, meanwhile, has fought for six titles and won all of them. She has been an undisputed world champion at super-welterweight and middleweight and holds 12 belts across three weight classes. Shields became a two- and three-division champion faster than any boxer in history, male or female.

Twitter: @nolanbianchi

nbianchi@detroitnews.com