World champion boxer Savannah Marshall has called out superstar Claressa Shields for a rematch in Mixed Martial Arts ahead of her PFL debut next month.
Whilst MMA fighters trying their hand at boxing is nothing new, it’s certainly a rarity to see not one, but two world champion boxers making the transition themselves across the cage-ring aisle.
Yet with undisputed super-middleweight boxing champion Savannah Marshall set to make her MMA debut in just a few weeks, we could be on an unlikely path to getting one of the biggest rematches in all of women’s combat sports.
Savannah Marshall wants to rematch Claressa Shields in MMA
Boxing champion Savannah Marshall is set to enter a whole new world of combat as she prepares to make her MMA debut at PFL Europe 2: 2024 Regular Season on June 8 from the Utilita Arena in Newcastle, England.
The fan-favorite fighter is 13-1 as a professional boxer, with that one singular blemish on her record thanks dealt to her by one of the GWOATs of the sport in Claressa Shields, who herself signed for the PFL back in 2020.
Speaking via TalkSport, Marshall was asked whether or not a rematch with Shields, this time in the MMA cage instead of the boxing ring, could be part of her future strategy as she looks to become a two-sport world champion.
“Yeah, that’s the plan – everyone’s asking about me going in the league and pushing on from there, winning belts but hopefully [I’ll] fight Claressa in the cage. That’s my goal, I want that rematch.”
Given both the competitive nature of their rivalry and the desire to earn back her only ever defeat as a professional fighter, should Marshall continue to rack up wins and titles, a rematch isn’t only a possibility, it’s inevitable.
“The thing that pushed me into this PFL deal was the fact that the boxing rematch just wasn’t happening, and I was a bit devastated that it didn’t happen straight after, it never materialized and that’s just boxing politics,” Marshall revealed in a recent interview with ESPN MMA.
“If the PFL had come to me and said, ‘Would you be interested in signing a contract and joining the league,’ I’d have said no,” said the world champion, before sharing that the key factor in her transition from boxing to MMA was indeed the idea of a rematch with ‘T-Rex’.
“But they come to me and said, ‘Would you be willing to try your hand at MMA with a potential fight with Claressa Shields in the cage’ – and that was what swayed it for me.”
“I’m not interested in fighting people who’ve got 15 years’ experience in wrestling or a black belt in BJJ, I want that win back off Claressa whether it would be in the ring or in the cage.”
Should Marshall earn a victory in her MMA debut on June 8, a clash between her and Shields would arguably be the biggest female fight that the promotion could put on, but that all comes down to getting that first win under her belt:
“I think this all depends on what happens on June 8th, I could get in there and just absolutely get annihilated and my arm snapped then it would be the end of that. By June 9th I think I’d have a lot better of an idea of when that [rematch] could be possible.”
CEO Peter Murray also previously stated that “The two are on a collision course for a rematch wearing 4oz gloves and settling the score in the PFL.”
Shields has had her own ups and downs in the world of MMA
Claressa Shields made her own MMA debut back in 2021, earning a third-round TKO win before dropping her next bout via a razor-close split decision.
Following the defeat, the first of her professional career across both boxing and MMA, Shields returned to the sport where she became a household name and in 2022, took the undefeated Marshall into deep waters on route to a unanimous decision win.
Her last boxing bout came in the summer of 2023, with the boxing GWOAT having returned to the world of MMA earlier this year as she earned a split decision victory on the PFL vs Bellator Series event.
At the time of writing, Shields doesn’t have her next boxing or MMA bout booked – fingers crossed that Marshall can get her hand raised on June 8, after which talks of a rematch can finally take shape.