Few sporting events are more exciting than the moment when two undefeated fighters walk into the ring to face each other.
This Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, boxing fans will have that pleasure as the undefeated Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall square off. Fighting to unify the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO belts in the middleweight division, this is sure to be a mouth-watering encounter.
If both fighters having professional records of 12-0-0 wasn’t intriguing enough, this clash is made more exciting by the fact that the two women fought a decade ago as amateurs with Savannah Marshall coming out the victor. We look at the odds of this happening again when the two meet over the weekend, a month after their earlier fight was delayed.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: October 14th, 7:00 P.M. (EST)
Bookmaker William Hill has this fight almost a dead-heat with Savannah Marshall ever so slightly the favourite at 1.83 compared to Claressa Shields who sits at 2.10.
While both women are heading into this bout off the back of victories, it is Marshall who carries more momentum. In her latest fight, Marshall scored a brutal knockdown over Femke Hermans courtesy of a well-placed left hook while Shields was only able to manage a decision victory against Ema Kozin in her latest match. Add to this, the fact that Marshall fights in front of a home crowd in the United Kingdom, an the edge is slightly in her favour.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: October 14th, 7:00 P.M. (EST)
Digging a little deeper into William Hill’s odds, while Marshall is the overall favourite to win, the most popular method of result is Claressa Shields by decision with odds of 2.00. Ten of Shield’s wins have come by way of decision with her last eight in a row going the distance.
Showcasing their contrasting styles, the next most popular method of result is a knockout in favour of Marshall at odds of 3.75. With the height and reach advantage in this fight, Marshall is also the harder hitter with 10 knockouts to her name from 12 wins. Having spent time training with Tyson Fury’s uncle recently, Marshall will be eager to make it 11 knockouts on her record.
The weeks leading up to this fight have been full of verbal tension with Shields hitting out and calling their amateur clash unfair.
“I had a lot against me. I feel like I fought against her, I fought against the judges, I fought against the ref. It wasn’t to me a fair fight. After the first time that we fought I felt I won. I knew that if I ever faced her again, I would beat her,” said Shields of the 2012 fight.
Shields’ bold words will be put to the test in a few days time when she steps into the ring against her undefeated opponent.
