Savannah Marshall prepares for biggest fight of career against Claressa Shields, but then what?

Saturday's undisputed middleweight satellite rubric combat against Claressa Shields volition beryllium the biggest infinitesimal of Savannah Marshall's vocation -- and she admits she whitethorn ne'er scope the aforesaid heights again.

The English boxer faces Shields for all 4 satellite titles astatine the O2 Arena successful London (ESPN+, 2:30 p.m. ET), successful what has been described arsenic 1 of the biggest fights successful the past of women's boxing.

But Marshall fears it could beryllium a bittersweet infinitesimal for her.

After facing Shields -- triumph oregon suffer -- WBO champion Marshall sees nary imaginable combat to lucifer it.

WBC, IBF, WBA champion Shields is already juggling boxing with a vocation successful mixed martial arts (MMA) and the Michigan autochthonal is expected to instrumentality to the cage aboriginal this twelvemonth for her 3rd MMA outing.

While Shields (12-0, 2 KOs) has won satellite titles astatine welterweight and inferior middleweight level, arsenic good arsenic middleweight, dropping down a value people is not an enactment for Marshall (12-0, 10 KOs), who is 5-foot-11.

"I don't hatred her, she conscionable gets connected my nerves a bit," Marshall, 31, told ESPN.

"Before I got the satellite title, who would privation to container maine erstwhile you person got a precocious percent of getting knocked out? For instance, I spent 3 years trying to get clasp of Ema Kozin.

"She didn't privation thing to bash with maine but past took a combat with Claressa -- why? Because you could spell 10 rounds with her and not get knocked out, coming retired without a scratch [Shields bushed Kozin by unanimous determination successful February 2022]. But, if you container me, you person got a precocious accidental of getting knocked out.

"After I bushed Claressa Shields, there's nary 1 other successful this part and I can't spell to inferior middleweight, truthful I tin lone spell higher to ace middleweight and airy heavyweight. There aren't the names successful those divisions similar the lighter value divisions wherever you've got Katie Taylor, Natasha Jonas, Amanda Serrano, Mikaela Mayer and others.

"Maybe she's not getting what she wants from this sport, possibly she's not getting sponsorship oregon vulnerability similar Katie Taylor is. Maybe she's not getting the sponsorship deals, endorsements and that's wherefore she's doing MMA. But volition she get the deals there? A leopard can't alteration its spots, she's uncovering hard to alteration her personality."

Perhaps Marshall's champion enactment for a combat arsenic large arsenic Saturday's rescheduled clash -- it was postponed astatine late announcement past period aft the decease of Queen Elizabeth II -- is simply a rematch further down the line. The rivalry is fierce betwixt Marshall and Shields, established erstwhile the brace were amateurs, with Marshall having beaten the American connected points successful 2012.

"Deep down, there's decidedly hatred determination from her," Marshall said. "I person fixed up trying to recognize her, she contradicts herself each the time.

"My triumph implicit her [in 2012] bothers her. I'm rather level-headed but she's the opposite, truly emotional."