Additionally, in 2019 and 2020, Shields successfully defended all four titles to reclaim the title of undisputed middleweight champion for the second time. She achieved this feat by defeating Savannah Marshall through a unanimous decision (97-93, 96-94, 96-94) in London on Saturday.

Shields, arguably the best female boxer, established herself by winning a fight against Marshall, an amateur, a decade ago. She believed that defeating Marshall also made up for her only loss in her boxing career.

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Dubois Caroline, Mayer Mikaela, Baumgardner Alycia, and Marshall Savannah have been involved in women’s boxing for many years. “It’s a special moment for women’s boxing,” Shields said in a post-fight interview. For me, it’s not just a special moment, it’s a very significant moment.

Right now, it’s an unbelievable moment and I’m just so happy. This is the fight of the year, and we are here in front of 20,000 fans at the O2 Arena in London.

During the fight, Shields exerted control and employed a combination of aggressive tactics and her well-established technical defense to neutralize Marshall’s strength. To prevent Marshall from gaining an advantage, Shields frequently utilized the ropes as a potential strategy to gradually wear Marshall down.

Perhaps, Marshall found a good middle ground to work out of, as it seemed like Shields also possessed a way to negate some of the power.

In the fifth round, Marshall started to connect with additional impactful strikes, as they rallied during the latter half. Shields successfully landed a noteworthy number of forceful punches during the initial half of the bout and outperformed Marshall in terms of punches landed in seven out of the ten rounds.

Statistics on Punches

PunchesShieldsMarshallTotal connected175136Total thrown480397Percentage37%34%Jabs connected4414Jabs thrown156114Percentage28%12%Power connected131122Power thrown324283Percentage40%43%- Courtesy of CompuBox.

According to Compubox, Shields’ 35 power punches that connected in the first two rounds surpassed Marshall’s total landed punches in any complete fight throughout her career.

In general, Shields connected with a greater number of forceful strikes (131 to 122), however, Marshall achieved a higher percentage of forceful strikes (43.1% to 40.4%). Marshall successfully landed 34.3% of her punches (136 out of 397), whereas Shields landed 36.4% (175 out of 480).

“She’s a formidable adversary. She’s a strong striker. She possesses stamina,” Shields stated. “However, I am the superior fighter a decade later.”

During the last five rounds, when Marshall (12-1, 10 KO) appeared to narrow the gap, Shields (13-0, 1 KO) mentioned that she was unable to see through her right eye because of Marshall’s strength.

Shields believed that she was hit hard by a shot from Marshall in each round, but she also countered and won the fight by working more inside.

“She has definitely earned the title of the greatest woman of all time, and she’s a brilliant fighter. However, I didn’t think she was as fast as she is. She is definitely a brilliant fighter, Claressa,” Marshall said in the postfight interview in the ring.

Tear “s “Wun’s Yung, a fighter from Flint, Michigan, who resides in Macclesfield, England, walked up to the platform, wearing gloves and shorts that featured the pattern of the American flag. The theme of the United States was played as she danced to the ring. She mentioned that she hoped she wouldn’t be booed like she was in her previous fight against Marshall, a resident of Macclesfield. She also expressed her desire to fight again in the United Kingdom, stating that she would like to have the same experience as she did in her hometown of Flint, at the age of 27.

If supporters desired it, Shields did not dismiss the possibility of engaging in another bout with Marshall on American soil. Shields emerged victorious with a unanimous verdict, yet the contractual agreement included a provision for a potential rematch in case of a contentious outcome, as stated by Shields.

The main event of the fight was the junior lightweight unification bout between Mikaela Mayer, the champion of IBF and WBO, and Alycia Baumgardner, the titlist of WBC, which also showcased an all-female card.

Neither fighter could have gone either way, but it was a close fight that Mayer won by split decision to capture all three belts, beating Baumgardner in a 95-96, 95-96 showdown. This victory came after months of trash-talking between the two.

Every round in the latter part of the match was extremely tight, but Mayer rebounded and composed himself in the fourth round. Initially, Baumgardner dominated as Mayer struggled to find his rhythm.

Following what seemed like three consecutive rounds of Mayer taking the initiative, Baumgardner managed to land a decisive blow on Mayer in the seventh round, marking one of the most crucial moments.

Baumgardner (13-1, 7 KO), who lives in Detroit, connected on 110 out of 324 punches (34%) with Mayer connecting on 100 out of 349 (29%). Mayer, a resident of Colorado Springs, Colorado, landed a greater proportion of jabs (27% to 25%) while also throwing 100 additional jabs compared to Baumgardner (227 to 127). At the age of 32, Baumgardner managed to land 61 jabs.

“I believe I landed the more accurate punches,” Baumgardner stated during the postfight interview. “The stronger punches.”

After the fight, Choi Hyun-Mi said she was not interested in a rematch with Mayer, the 32-year-old, instead hoping to pursue the undisputed championship. She became the unified champion of the world by winning via a fifth-round knockout, making her record 17-1.