'Marshall vs Shields will go off the scales'

Savannah Marshall's prospective undisputed showdown with Claressa Shields awaits as the biggest fight in women's boxing history, believes Boxxer promoter Ben Shalom.

The Silent Assassin has a Femke Hermans-shaped obstacle standing between her and long-term rival Shields, with the Belgian looming as something of a silent assassin herself as the forgotten woman ahead of Saturday's clash in Newcastle.

Marshall is famously the only fighter to have beaten Shields in the ring, her triumph dating back to amateur level at the 2012 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships.

Shalom says everything is in place for the two to meet again, providing Marshall comes through her next test.

"Not to put pressure on Savannah I expect her to deal with Claressa so this fight should be no problem," Shalom told Sky Sports.

"The negotiations are just getting to the end now, it's just a matter of days before we finish that. I am already thinking about Savannah Claressa, it's the first fight we wanted to make when we came to Sky.

"It's a fight they both want, you need great rivals, women's boxing has probably always struggled with that as it grows as a sport in its own right.

"It's the first fight in women's boxing where there's genuine rivalry and dislike. I think this is going to go off the scale in terms of women's boxing."

Shields is set to be ringside for her middleweight foe's headline event, just as Marshall was when the American beat Ema Kozin on the undercard of Chris Eubank vs Liam Williams in February.

But Marshall knows she cannot afford to look beyond the "awkward" former world champion Hermans.

"I've got Femke on Saturday, get past her and there's nothing standing between me and Claressa. Get past Femke and then hopefully me and