LONDON – Representatives for Claressa Shields are optimistic that Shields will be available to face longtime rival Savannah Marshall on Oct. 15 in the United Kingdom, Shields’s manager, Mark Taffet, told Sports Illustrated on Monday. Shields-Marshall, originally scheduled for Sept. 10, was postponed in the aftermath of Queen Elizabeth’s death last week.
In announcing the postponement, Boxxer, the lead promoter of the historic all-women’s card, said the card would be provisionally rescheduled for Oct. 15. That’s because Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-division world champion, is scheduled to return to mixed martial arts and compete in the Professional Fighters League in November.