Savannah Marshall’s rise – being ‘banned’ from sparring to headlining O2 Arena

Savannah Marshall’s boxing career was born out of the same circumstances that killed the dreams of so many young girls.

Not allowed to spar, not allowed to fight the boys, and, if it were not already blatantly obvious, an amateur coach telling her she was not wanted. Change the sport, change the jargon, change the location, it is a depressing, indignant tale that has been the reality of far too many up and coming athletes.

However, ‘The Silent Assassin’ is a defiant, unflappable character who was never going to take no for an answer. Six weeks after their bout was postponed following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the WBO middleweight champion will headline the O2 Arena on October 16, to face the always outspoken, self-crowned ‘GWOAT’ of women’s boxing, Claressa Shields in the first ever all-female boxing fight card.

READ MORE: 'Female Floyd Mayweather' Claressa Shields admits 'my greatness rubs up on people'

Such extraordinary sporting journeys tend to include a chapter of the victor sticking two fingers up at the naysayers and gatekeepers of the past. However, this cool, reserved, humble character has no interest in using her now historic platform to slam those who would not have wanted her on it. “Even at my own amateur club, they didn’t really want me there,” Marshall said in an exclusive interview with Daily Star Sport.

“And when I think about it, it was quite obvious they didn’t want me there. In the first two or three sessions, I had to sit and watch, I was never allowed to spar, the head coach never gave me the time of day. He even says now, ‘I didn’t want you there, I never wanted you there. But after a while you kept turning up and kept turning up, being the first outside and the last to leave and I thought ‘I’m not getting rid of here’.’

“So really, the signs were there from the start, I just loved the sport so much, I just didn’t get the ince. I think it makes me realise how different I am from other people. At the time, I hated sparring anyway. Sparring was my least favourite thing, so at the time I remember thinking ‘ha, well, I didn’t want to spar anyway’.

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“But anybody else would have been like ‘oh my God, I don’t belong here. I’m not allowed in this gym. This isn’t my world, this is a man’s world. Oh God, I’m never going back to that gym again, that was embarrassing’.

“If that was my mindset, if I was that type of person, would I still be boxing? Probably not.” Marshall’s battle with Shields is set to be the crescendo of a phenomenal year for women’s sport and a positive, final chapter to a farcical six weeks for boxing. Expectation and anticipation has been ramped up by the fact the bout was cancelled 24 hours before it was supposed to go ahead, following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

As well as taking Shields’ WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO championships, Marshall also has the opportunity to take the newly formed ‘Elizabethan’ belt, the WBC introduced in tribute to the Queen. Whoever leaves the 02 Arena with all the gold, this fight is a huge victory for women’s boxing and women’s sport as a whole – however, Marshall is not won over by the ‘gender thing’ as she calls it.

“To be honest with you, at first, I wasn’t keen at all,” Marshall added, when asked about the prospect of headlining the first all women’s boxing fight card. “I want equality, I don’t want to be known as being on an all-female card. I want to be known as ‘oh, look, there’s a good card on. There’s a good boxing card on the weekend’, not that there are all females.

“There will be some brilliant fights on, but I am trying to get away from the whole gender thing. But look, the only fight I am interested in is the one with her (Shields), so I’m not going to get too wound up about that.” Do not take this statement as an attack or slight on the event. Feelings and sentiments, positive or negative, have never clouded Marshall’s vision. If they had, her old coach’s words may well have cut even deeper and there would be no rivalry with Shields.

Besides, the American certainly knows her way around a verbal jibe. A single punch is yet to be thrown, but Shields has still managed to get some low blows in on Marshall. She has dismissed Marshall’s opponents as “tomato cans” and even labelled Marshall as ‘the Boogeywoman’.

“What does that even mean?” Marshall laughed! “What is the boogeywoman? She contradicts herself all the time." Marshall will not be defeated by such names, just as she was not overcome by the boxing alienation of her teen years. “She can think what she wants. I had this conversation with her before, I just said ‘who would want to fight me?’ Especially before I had that world title.

“There is nothing to gain from fighting me and there is a chance you will get knocked out. Ema Kozin, who she last boxed, I’ve been trying to get her for three years – she didn’t want to know. But at the drop of a hat she goes and fights Claressa. Why? Because you have an actual chance of beating her and you will go the ten rounds and not get hurt.”

The conferences, the interviews, the constant verbal jibes, will all come to an end October 15. And that is when the Silent Assassin will be at her most dangerous.

BOXXER: Legacy – Shields vs Marshall, October 15th. Witness history, live and exclusive on Sky Sports Boxing. Last remaining tickets on sale now at Boxxer.com

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