Savannah Marshall may not have boxed since taking the undisputed super middleweight title from Franchon Crewe-Dezurun last summer, but she hasn't been slacking by any means.
Marshall (13-1, 10 KOs) is currently preparing for his MMA debut. The cage door will close behind the two-division boxing world champion for the first time at a PFL event in Newcastle, England on June 8th.
Marshall, 32, may be immersed in the intricacies of her new sport at the moment, but she remains keenly focused on the ever-changing sands of women's boxing.
Marshall would like to see the middleweight and super middleweight divisions become as vibrant as the current lower divisions, but accepts that it is unlikely to happen any time soon, and says he would like to see a strong contender at 160 pounds or 168 pounds. The compromise will be that a suitable candidate emerges.
“It’s weird, even though at one point the lightweights were bouncing around,” Marshall told BoxingScene. “Then I went to Super Feather. Then I moved on to Super Welter with Natasha Jonas and Terry Harper. Now onto Welter. There's a very shallow pool of intermediate and super intermediate women. Middle and super. It might get a little tougher in the middle, but I don't see it in the near future.”
As Marshall says, welterweight has become the right place.
The division has gone from strength to strength since becoming the permanent home of a group of famous fighters who have spent the past few years climbing up and down the ranks.
In January, Natasha Jonas clinched her IBF title after a close 10-round battle with Mikaela Mayer, cementing her status as the best welterweight on the planet, while WBO champion Sandy Ryan recently won – Overwhelmed Harper 4 to 1 and expanded his claims. -Side round.
On Saturday, 2020 Olympic gold medalist Lauren Price will seek her first world title shot when she puts the WBA belt on the line against former absolute champion Jessica McCaskill.
Marshall believes the 29-year-old Price not only outperforms Chicago's McCaskill, but has the style, strength and discipline to compete for the top spot.
“The welterweight division is hyped, but I think Lauren Price will top them all,” Marshall said. “I don't think MacAskill is going to win a round. What's a little special about Lauren is that she's inherited an amateur style. Usually you see fighters die after four rounds, whereas Lauren I mean you can maintain footwork for 10 rounds. The pro game is more flat footed and looking for your shot, but with Lauren, the footwork is taking over and you can't see anyone getting close to her. Macaskill in particular is slow and slow.”
Marshall may be confident Price has what it takes to emerge as the best welterweight on the planet, but ultimately he has to prove it against the dangerous Ryan. I also believe that it will not happen. She boxed at MacAskill last year.
“I think that's going to be the smartest person,” Marshall said. “I think Sandy is a great boxer, but I'm sure we've seen her chosen to fight in the past. If she had chosen to box with MacAskill, she would have boxed head over heels. I think she would have done that anyway, but I think she would have been more successful boxing and working out than going there hoping for a little war.”