'She wouldn't last two minutes with me' - Hartlepool's fighting sensation Savannah Marshall issues statement of intent to rival Claressa Shields after WBO middleweight title defence in Newcastle

Marshall defended her WBO middleweight title in stunning fashion in front of a jubilant Newcastle crowd against Lolita Muzeya with a devastating stoppage in round two.

The Hartlepool fighter landed a number of punishing blows to the Zambian who made an aggressive start to the fight but to no avail.

And when Marshall found her rhythm in round two she was able to close the fight out in spectacular style in front of the watching Shields.

And the American issued a message to Marshall after her win saying: “See you next year. I‘ll show you what a real fighter and a real champion fights like.”

When asked for her response, Marshall told Sky Sports: “Claressa couldn’t last two minutes with me, never mind two rounds.”

Undefeated Marshall is the only fighter to have beaten Shields when the pair boxed in the amateur ranks and they now look set to be on a collision course with one another in 2022.

But former world and Commonwealth champion Marshall was keen to enjoy the second defence of her title over Muzeya on her return to the North East.

“I’m absolutely overwhelmed. I cannot get over it,” she said.

“At the end of the day I'm still a woman in a man’s sport and to have this amount of support, I'm on cloud nine. Thank you to everyone from Hartlepool who came.”

Marshall added: “I knew she’d come like that and when I went back to the corner after the first round Peter said to just weather the storm because she’ll die after a couple of rounds, and she only lasted one more.

“She came at me like a bat out of hell. Fair play to her she stuck it on me.”

And after the fight promoter Ben Shalom confirmed Marshall and Shields would move a step closer to one another on the same card in Birmingham in December.

“We believe we’ve got the best fighter in the whole sport. We’re going to put them together on the same card and then we’ll see what happens, but it’s going to happen and it’s going to happen very soon.”

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