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.
