SPECIAL COLLABORATION
It’s not just in the animal kingdom that queens challenge each other.
It is commonplace in the world of boxing whether male or female. We had further proof of this on Saturday when Claressa Shields, (12-0, 2 K.-O.) who claims to be “the best female athlete of all time” faced Savanah Marshall, her faller (8-14) of the 2012 World Championships in Qinhuangdao, China.
It was after his brilliant performance on Emma Kozig (21-1-1, 11 KOs).
“I give myself an A minus, throwing Shields after his triumph. I had fewer difficulties with her than with Marie-Ève Dicaire.”
It was then that the interviewer invited Marshall to comment on her future rival’s performance.
“I think if she can’t do better than that, I’m going to sweep the arena mat with her at our next showdown!” »
the explosion
It was enough for Shields to explode and get out of its hinges.
Let’s just say that we can’t publish the crude insults of Shields, who was shouting at the top of her lungs while Marshall remained very calm in front of her.
“I’m not afraid of you…” Shields cried. This is the main reason why I am here. Claim victory in your next fight on March 12, and you’ll see. I’ll mop the floor with you! »
It has been more than ten and a half years since Shields last battled in London, since his first gold medal win at the 2012 Olympics.
Over the past nine years, Shields and Marshall have never been defeated.
Marshall has won her last seven bouts by knockout while Shields has failed to eclipse a rival by knockout since beating Nikki Adler by fifth-round referee stoppage in Detroit on August 17. 2017.
In his entire career, Shields has only lost six rounds in total, according to the judges’ version.
One round against Ivana Habazin, two rounds against Christina Hammer and three rounds against Hanna Gabriels. Her other seven matches were sweeps where she won all rounds.
With pillows instead of gloves
For Marshall, Shields hits her rivals with pillows in her hands.
She can speak well, she who has never lost a single round since her professional debut in 2017. Besides, she has only 41 boxing rounds unlike 101 rounds for Shields.
It’s obvious that Marshall has better punching power than Shields. She is also four inches taller than the American.
Her next rival, Femke Hermans (12-3, 5 KOs) is a victim of Shields. In December 2018, in Carson, California, Shields won all rounds against Hermans to finally win by unanimous decision.
Herman is 32 years old and she has won her last three fights, including two by knockout over a certain Borislava Goronova (11-62-4) and Lili Jumali (1-0). Finally, she was forced to deliver ten rounds against her third victim, Luiza Davydova (3-1).
It gives you a better idea of Hermans’ talent, which isn’t in the same category as Marshall and Shields, but the point is to see Marshall knockout a rival who’s been up for ten. attacks in front of the American.
And then we set the table between the two queens… In September, in London, in front of a full house. I suppose…
I still believe that Marshall will win this long-awaited confrontation.
The singer was better than the boxer
The singer who imitated Tom Johnson, in Cardif, by interpreting the song Delilah succeeded much better than the boxer who tried to ape his performance à la Roy Jones fils.
There is no doubt that Chris Eubank Jr. is a good boxer, but I don’t believe he is in the class of Saul “Canelo”, Jermall Charlo, Ryota Murata or even Demetrius Andrade, to name a few.
I will change my mind the day he faces and wins a match against an elite class boxer. And let me tell you, his latest victim Liam Williams (23-4-1, 18 KOs) is not of that select class.
After four rounds, Williams had already visited the mat on three occasions. Despite everything, Eubank, under the watchful eye of his father, could not do better than a victory by decision (116-109, 116-108 and (117-109).
bad imitator
During the uneven game, Eubank could be seen giving his version of Jones, with his head to the side and jerky punching. We even got an “Ali Shuffle” towards the end of the game. It looked like he wasn’t taking it seriously, believing himself to be much more talented than his rival.
Jones, who was in the corner of Eubank, didn’t seem to relish this misbehavior on the part of his protege any more than his venerable father, seated in the front row.
All that is fine, but he could never have done that against the elite boxers mentioned above.
Personally, he is stalling on the spot and it will be so as long as he does not increase the quality of his rivals.
Too expensive
I would have liked to tell you about the victory of Keith Thurman (30-1, 22 K.-O.) on Mario Barrios (26-2, 26 K.-O.), but I did not buy the gala, from Las Vegas.
Seventy-four dollars and ninety-five US dollars for a boxer who hadn’t been in the ring for almost three years, and who had by then lost his last fight against veteran Manny Pacquiao, was too expensive.
Thurman won by decision… so much the better! But I don’t think he’s ready to go up against Errol Spence Jr., Terence Crawford or even Jaron Ennis. At least he’s one more talented boxer at 147 pounds and he’s only 33 years old.
Good luck!
whyte is never happy
In a month, heavyweight Dillian Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs), known as “The Body Snatcher,” will have been inactive for a year since his rematch victory by stoppage of the referee in the fourth round on the Russian Alexander Povetkin.
He had agreed to face Sweden’s Otto Wallin, but a shoulder injury ended that October 30, 2021 fixture at London’s O2 Arena.
Since that day, Whyte has continued to challenge the competition.
If I’m going by a statement from promoter Bob Arum, last December when it was decided Whyte would be the next opponent for champion Tyson Fury, he demanded a $10 million purse.
Arum refused this request.
Now that promoter Frank Warren has secured the rights to host the fight, with the phenomenal $41 million offer, Whyte is disappointed with the 80-20 purse split. Which means that currently, he is the “baboon”.
However, he has never received such an attractive scholarship in his entire life.
It may be insulting to see a rival earning four times as much as you for the same work, but in boxing it’s a lot like show business. You are paid according to your popularity and the “Gypsy King” is at least ten times more popular than Whyte.
Whyte has earned over $1 million in his last five fights. A million $ against Joseph Parker, Derek Chisora, Oscar Rivas and a million and a half $ against Mariusz Wach.
It was against Povetkin that he hit the jackpot with a check for $4 million. This is the highest lifetime scholarship he has collected.
On pay TV, Whyte is far from setting records. His best score was on December 12, 2015, when he faced Anthony Joshua.
Broadcast on “Sky Sports Box Office”, this match was bought by 699,000 real boxing fans. On July 20, 2019, only 368,000 buyers watched the Rivas fight.
Instead of seeing him improve, the fans left him like snow in the spring. Only 197,000 buyers saw his revenge on Povetkin, on March 27, 2021.
Last week, Arum predicted a crowd of 500,000 ardent boxing fans to buy the Fury-Whyte duel. But remember that Father Arum was often wrong in his predictions.
With such a scenario, Whyte had better accept the ten million dollars. If he wins, he could add a few million dollars to his personal fortune, which is estimated at $1 million. If he loses, things will get harder and harder for him.
Fury can poke fun at Whyte any way he wants. Out of hand, he could eclipse him and concentrate his efforts on the triple champion Oleksandr Usyk, or even on his compatriot Joshua. And to add insult to injury, Fury could turn to the UFC side and face champion Francis Ngannou for a multi-million dollar purse.
Finally, let’s say Whyte’s bargaining power is virtually non-existent. For the moment, we wonder if he is really interested in going up against Fury. One thing is certain, he will be 34 on April 11 and he will never be offered a $10 million purse for a next game.
Better to help promote the fight, otherwise it could be his last career match.
Happy boxing!
