Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall clash at ringside! Cardiff undercard roundup
George Glinski rounds up the Eubank Jr vs Williams undercard, as Claressa Shields clashes with bitter rival Savannah Marshall after beating Ema Kozin
Claressa Shields vs Ema Kozin action
The self-proclaimed ‘GWOAT’ (’Greatest Woman Of All Time) Claressa Shields (now 12-0) won every minute of every round in her contest against Ema Kozin (21-1-1) to retain the WBA, WBC and IBF middleweight titles in the chief support to Chris Eubank Jr vs Liam Williams at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena.
Shields, 26, bombarded Kozin constantly for twenty minutes and by the end of the contest, all three judges’ scorecards read 100-90 in favour of the American.
Watching at ringside was long-time amateur rival Savannah Marshall, who holds a win over Shields at the World Amateur Boxing Championships in 2012.
During the post-fight interview, Marshall came into the frame with promoter Ben Shalom and all hell let loose.
“I think if you perform like that against me, I’ll absolutely wipe the floor with you,” Marshall said to Shields.
“You couldn’t wipe my drawers, you hear me? You can’t do shit with me,” Shields said, then stood up to go face-to-face with Marshall. “You didn’t come to America, I came here! Win March 12 and I’ll wipe the floor with you! You can’t do shit with me!”
“You went 10 rounds with an absolute child!” Marshall replied. “People were walking out after round five!”
The pair are set to square off in June for the undisputed middleweight crown, with Marshall putting up her WBO belt.
Undercard highlights
• Caroline Dubois looked sensational in her professional debut, outclassing the gritty Vaida Masiokaite (2-15-4) in a six-round decision victory. Despite the bright lights and the massive stage, Dubois remained composed and picked her punches well, even rocking the durable Lithuanian midway through the fight.
• Former WBA and IBF super-lightweight champion Julius Indongo (23-5) was overwhelmed by the relentless work rate of Chris Jenkins (23-4-3) in their welterweight contest. Jenkins, from Swansea, impressed in front of his home crowd, applying intelligent pressure to wear out his veteran foe.
• Coming into the ring to Eye of the Tiger Shane Gill (2-1) produced his own Rocky Balboa moment by overcoming the odds to comfortably outhustle Steve “Drago” Robinson (4-1). An entertaining heavyweight slugfest between two relative novices, Gill will remember this night for the rest of his life.
• Sweden’s Otto Wallin (23-1) defeated Polish journeyman Kamil Sokołowski (11-25-2) in an eight-round bore-fest that many were glad to see the back of. For a top 15 heavyweight, Wallin did little to impress the Cardiff crowd while Sokołowski looked happy to reach the final bell.
• Samuel Antwi (14-1) defeated Conah Walker (10-1-1) over the 10-round distance in an early Fight of the Year candidate to retain his English welterweight title. For its entirety, it was breath-taking and highly competitive. Scorecards of 96-95, 96-94 and 97-94 in favour of Antwi seemed fair, although the contest could have gone either way.
• Youth overcame experience in the opening bout of the evening as 27-year-old Harlem Eubank (13-0) forced the retirement of 40-year-old Viroel Simion (22-8) at the end of round five. Simion, who had lost six of his last seven coming into the contest was stuck in survival mode as his adversary peppered away with blistering flurries. Early investment to the body proved to be the decider for Eubank as Simion was unable to answer the bell for round six.
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