In an interview with Sky Sports, Savannah Marshall criticized Peter Fury’s – who has been training her for several years – ‘gambit’ tactics when she suggested she would have fared better in her match against Claressa Shields if she fought differently on fight night. Savannah Marshall and Claressa Shields fought in an undisputed title bout at Middleweight in October of 2022, with the latter winning by unanimous decision.
The fight was very competitive with the start with both boxers fighting at an incredibly high tempo as soon as the bell started. Despite both fighters putting up noteworthy performances, Marshall (12-1, 10 KO’s) eventually lost to Shields (13-0, 2 KO’s) by unanimous decision.
Following her loss four months ago, Marshall seems to have evaluated what she could have done differently.
“Honestly I can outbox Claressa, long.” Marshall said. “The tactics were totally going against my strengths.”
When asked on why she fought like that, Marshall referred to her trainer, Peter Fury, and under no uncertain terms implicated him in partially causing her defeat to Shields.
“I think that’s one for Peter Fury.” Marshall responded to the question. “It’s a team effort so I can’t point the blame, but he hasn’t been my favorite person over the past couple of months.”
Peter Fury, uncle of current WBC Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and father of Heavyweight Hughie Fury, has trained Savannah Marshall since she split from Floyd Mayweather’s promotion in 2018. Having first been signed to Mayweather Promotions, her first three fights were fought were under that banner before she was released – under mutual agreement – and took up Peter Fury as a trainer. Since her debut, she fought as a Super Middleweight, and later moved down to Middleweight when she received her first world title opportunity against Hannah Rankin (12-6, 3 KO’s) in 2020, whereafter she became the WBO champion.
A notable British female amateur boxer, Marshall was the only one to beat Claressa Shields in the amateurs. As she turned professional and moved up in the rankings, Marshall teased a fight between them – this time at the pro level – as early as 2019. By 2022, the two were both champions at Middleweight – with Shields, at the time being a unified champion – and an undisputed fight was arranged for October which she eventually ended up losing.
WIth her roots at 168 lbs, Marshall has also teased a return to Super Middleweight against undisputed champion Franchon Crews-Dezurn (8-1, 2 KO’s), if a rematch with Shields in 2023 isn’t feasible.
