Claressa Shields beats Savannah Marshall in thriller to unify world titles

Claressa Shields became the undisputed world middleweight champion when she outpointed Savannah Marshall, her bitter rival, in a magnificent contest on an historic night of women’s boxing in London. The first all-female card in British boxing was headlined by an intense and relentless fight which Shields won on all three judges’ scorecards by margins of 96-94 and a more accurate 97-93 verdict from the two other officials.

Contested over 10, two-minute rounds, Shields and Marshall accentuated the need for elite women’s boxing to move to three-minute rounds. This was a fight of great skill and grit and each round needed another additional minute to do justice to the raw ebb and flow.

But Shields produced a masterclass in which she always seemed able to answer Marshall’s fierce aggression and heavy blows with far more effective and stinging combinations. Her ability to switch from the head to the body, where she punished Marshall throughout, was often breathtaking in its audacity and panache.

Shields’s superior boxing skills have long been obvious but, on the most important night of her career, she punched with great authority and force. She was also razor-sharp in her accuracy but the small mouse of a swelling under her right eye provided clear evidence of the battle Shields endured against the impressively determined Marshall.

Round after round passed in a blurring flurry of blows, with the action almost unremitting, as Marshall often managed to back Shields into a corner as she looked to unleash her power punches. But Shields always held her nerve and, amid the fire and fury, responded with clinical precision to land volleys of punches. They were constant reminders that the 27-year-old American is a double Olympic