CLARESSA SHIELDS revealed she punched Eddie Hearn ‘in the gut’ at an airport – but insisted she will ‘love him forever’ if he secures her a rematch with Savannah Marshall.
Shields, 25, has just one defeat on her record across both her amateur and professional careers.
That came against Marshall when the Brit stopped her in the second round of their bout in 2012 at the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Qinhuangdao.
Marshall, 29, beat compatriot Hannah Rankin with a staggering performance on Saturday night to claim the WBO female middleweight title.
And she immediately called out Shields – the two-time Olympic champion and holder of the other three middleweight belts – for a pro rematch.
But in a video recorded in a car and posted on Twitter, Shields hit back – and ordered Matchroom chief Hearn to help out.
The American said: “Savannah Marshall this, Savannah Marshall that – come on! I’m tired of talking about it. I’ve been wanting to smoke with her, she knows that.
“Y’all know what’s up, y’all know everybody from the UK all they can do is talk s***, y’all can’t do nothing else but that.
“Y’all can’t talk about that s*** – box better than me? All you can say is, ‘Oh she beat you when you were in amateurs, she beat you eight years ago.’
“That’s all y’all can say, that’s it.
“Eddie Hearn knows I told him that. ‘You give me a fight with Savannah Marshall, I’ll love you forever.’ I told him that to his face.
“He said, ‘I’m gonna take your word on it.’
“I said, ‘I’m telling you – you give me the fight with Savannah Marshall, I’ll love you forever.’
“Then I saw him at the airport and I punched him in the gut. A little tap tap, but I put a little bit on him. Not a lot but just enough to make him feel it.
“Listen, I like Eddie Hearn, he’s a cool dude with a lot of personality but in boxing he will sell away your dream and I ain’t got time for that s***.”
After a 77-1 record in amateurs, Shields has only had ten bouts since turning pro.
But she has already racked up world titles at three different weight classes in record speed across men’s and women’s boxing.
In her most recent fight, Shields saw off Croatian Ivana Habazin in January to add the WBO and WBC light middleweight belts to her growing collection.
