Claressa Shields says Savannah Marshall is “scared of me” after exposing her bitter rival’s attempts to bully her in a bad-tempered build-up to her undisputed world title fight.
The self-proclaimed ‘Greatest Woman of All Time’ has been critical of Marshall throughout the build-up, although she has maintained her belief that she will emerge victorious at The O2 on Saturday.
Bad blood between the pair resumed Thursday when Shields accused Marshall of being a stalker.
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“I saw before her fight with Hannah Rankin and how she bullied Hannah Rankin, how she and April (Hunter) talked trash to Hannah, posting an old sparring film, being really mean to her and Hannah Rankin it’s not like that. person to give that energy back, she’s very kind and very sweet,” Shields said.
“She thought she was going to pull the same p**p with me – no, you will never disrespect me because I will hit you, if you want to go down, I will go down, you are not going to bully me.
“That’s what bullies her, she can’t bully me or talk anymore and if she wants to get into something before the fight, I’m all for it, I won’t turn it down.
“If she thinks she’s going to get in my face and put her hands on me and slap me, guess what, I’m going to do 10 times more than that and she knows it and it scares me.
“She’s mean, she’s a kettle, I don’t want to be cordial with you, I don’t want to be your friend. When saturday comes she’ll know we’re not friends, and to keep your hand up because she’s leaving. to get hit all the time” .
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Claressa Shields reacts angrily after Savannah Marshall’s gymnastics partner April Hunter asks her an awkward question about her ‘questionable chin’
Marshall believes Shields’ strong dislike for her will prove costly on Saturday night.
He jokingly channeled that sentiment in Thursday’s news conference, occasionally urging Shields to “toughen up” when the exchanges got heated.
“I think that’s going to be his downfall, which he can’t control,” Marshall said.
“I believe I have the power to hurt her, I honestly believe I can,” he continued. “If I didn’t think I could beat Claressa I wouldn’t have taken the fight, I know what I can do and I know I have enough to beat her.”
Watch Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall meet to unify the middleweight titles live on Sky Sports from 7.30pm on Saturday.