Savannah Marshall insists Claressa Shields is no distraction ahead of title defense

Savannah Marshall says she has “tunnel vision” going into this Saturday’s defence of her WBO World Middleweight Title defence against Femke Hermans, the former WBO World Super-Middleweight Champion.

Marshall headlines the BOXXER card taking place at Newcastle Utilita Arena, live on Sky Sports, knowing that a win will set up a showdown with bitter rival Claressa Shields, an encounter which would be the biggest fight in the history of women’s boxing.

The defending champion is immune to distraction however and is not looking past this Saturday’s bout against the hard-hitting Hermans.

SAVANNAH MARSHALL 

“I’ve got tunnel vision when it comes to who I’m fighting. I know I can’t overlook Femke. This is definitely my toughest fight to date. She’s a former world champion, she’s only ever been beaten by world champions so I’m expecting a tough fight.”

“Everyone keeps asking how I can focus on Femke when everyone is talking about Claressa. But the thing is, everyone’s been talking about Claressa for the past four years. She’s always been creeping about in the background for me, this is nothing new.

“[A win on Saturday means there is] nothing stopping setting up a massive fight between me and Claressa in the summer.”

FEMKE HERMANS

“I’m in very good shape, I’ve had a great training camp, everything has fallen together in the last month and I am ready to kick some ass on Saturday.”

“I’m going to do everything I can on Saturday. For me it’s a big chance to get back at the highest level after some difficult years. I’m going to give everything on Saturday so I can take the belt home so I can be the WBO champion in two different weight classes.”

Press release courtesy of Boxxer.

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