For legacy: Hartlepool's Savannah Marshall ready for 'pinnacle' of her career in undisputed middleweight showdown with Claressa Shields

Marshall and Shields have been on a collision course for over a decade since the pair met in the amateurs and will finally throw down with one another on Saturday as the headline act in what will be an historic night in the world of boxing at London’s O2 arena. Marshall and Shields top the bill in what is the first-ever all-female card to be held in the UK as they clash for the undisputed middleweight crown. “What it means to me to become undisputed middleweight champion? “It’s everything,” Marshall told Boxxer’s ‘For Legacy’ documentary. “It’s everything I’ve wanted since I turned pro. It is the pinnacle of my career. I don't think there’ll be another fight like this.” But for Marshall growing up in Hartlepool, the prospect of being in this position, preparing for, arguably, the biggest fight in the history of women’s boxing was unforeseen. After all, it was curiosity which got her into the sport of boxing in the first place. “Growing up in Hartlepool was great,” says Marshall. “We never really had a lot, but I never really went without. I had a great mam and dad, a great family and great friends. “I was very sporty. I loved playing sports. I walked into a boxing gym because one of my friends had a little plastic trophy and I saw it glistening in the sun and thought ‘I want one of them.’ “Curiosity took hold of me,” she added. “I remember going up the steps and I heard music blasting, bags being punched and I was stood at the door looking through the glass thinking ‘I want to go in’ and looking back now, at that age, considering how painfully shy I was, I can’t believe I did that.” Unexpectedly, it was the beginning of a blossoming relationship between Marshall and boxing. A relationship that was not always easy. Marshall, who would later become known as ‘The Silent Assassin’ for her reserved demeanour which dovetailed her devastating power, faced the same kind of challenges any young female looking to cut their teeth into what is often considered a male dominated sport faced. The patriarchy were often not at all welcoming to a teenage Marshall. “When I was about 14 I went to a boxing club in Sunderland, but when I got there the coach pointed at me and said ‘what’s that?’ “At the time I pretended I never heard him and I looked away. Then he said ‘what’s that,’ he said it twice, and my coach said ‘it’s our female fighter’ and he was like: ‘Female fighter? We don’t allow females in here.’ “At the time I didn't like sparring, I'd rather hit the bags and the pads so I wasn't too bothered but I wasn’t allowed to spar. “For anyone else in that situation, that could have totally ruined their love of boxing.” But it was the curiosity for the sport which kept bringing Marshall back. She would often cycle to the Headland amateur boxing club in Hartlepool after school. That was where she found her release before, eventually, she discovered she was pretty good at it. In 2012 Marshall would go on to claim world championship gold in China, the scene which would also light the fuse for a decade long rivalry with Shields. Marshall’s win over Shields in those world championships remains the only blot on the American’s copybook - a copybook which brings us to London this weekend. For Shields, the objective is simple: to right the only wrong of her career. For Marshall, it’s about achieving the ultimate goal and proving to herself the 12-year-old who persisted with the setbacks in gyms across the North East was right to do so. “I never had any ambition to turn pro. I never watched professional boxing, I was never interested,” revealed Marshall. “I had a plan to retire when I was 30 then COVID hit. “[But] one of the things that’s kept me in this game for so long is I just love it. I love training. I love competing. I love sparring. I love pads. I just love boxing. “That fight with Claressa has always been there,” she added. “The rivalry has always been there. The toing and froing has always been there, so there’s nothing really different. “I feel like I want to say I can't stand the girl. But it is what it is. “She calls herself the GWOAT [Greatest Woman Of All Time]. But after I beat her she can start calling me the GWOAT, can’t she? "She’s always been creeping about in the background for me. I would describe Claressa as rude and ignorant. Maybe that loss has got something to do with it. “It’s been 10 years since we last boxed, [but] on September 10 I will become the undisputed middleweight champion of the world.” But while a defiant Marshall is targeting the win which will elevate her career into super-stardom, the bout with Shields goes way beyond that. The all-female card in London is yet another ‘game-changer’ when it comes to women in sport. After a summer in which women have been at the front and centre owing to the extraordinary exploits of England’s Lionesses at Euro 2022, this feels like just another step on the way to that equality in sport. And for Marshall, as a pioneer for such a movement, it is something she is immensely proud of. “It’s amazing to be seen as a front runner,” she said. “I’ve never ever thought about it, but when I was younger I had an idol and I had boxers who I looked up to and now I get messages saying ‘I look up to you,’ and ‘I love what you do,’ so it’s kind of come full circle.” *Watch Boxxer’s ‘For Legacy’ documentary in full HERE