Savannah Marshall vs Hannah Rankin joins October 31st Usyk-Chisora undercard

I guess they weren’t kidding about rescheduling it “ASAP.”

Savannah Marshall’s vacant WBO middleweight title fight with Hannah Rankin, originally scheduled for this past Saturday before Marshall’s trainer tested positive for COVID, will now take place on the October 31st Oleksandr Usyk-Dereck Chisora undercard.

Marshall (8-0, 6 KO) and Rankin (9-4, 2 KO), respectively ranked third and fifth by BoxRec, will be fighting for the belt formerly held by Claressa Shields during “T-Rex’s” rampage through the division. Marshall’s knocked out six of her last seven opponents, while Rankin has never lost a non-title fight.

“Honestly it has been a dream to have this fight rescheduled so quickly,” said Marshall. “After the past week I’ve just been overjoyed with the news. I couldn’t have asked for a better or bigger platform than on the Usyk vs. Chisora bill.

“It was frustrating that the fight fell through, but it’s one of those things. There was nothing I could have done about it. Peter is okay which is the main thing.

“My training won’t change and will just be like any other training routine 10 days out from a fight. Nothing will change. It hasn’t got more personal for me, as me and Rankin are just two girls that can’t wait for a dust up with each other.”

“It is great that the fight has been rescheduled so soon, thank you to Eddie Hearn and Matchroom for sorting it all out,” said Rankin. “Nothing changes for me. I will be crowned WBO Middleweight World Champion on October 31.”

Also on tap are an IBF lightweight final eliminator between Lee Selby and George Kambosos Jr. and a vacant European cruiserweight title fight pitting Tommy McCarthy against Bilal Laggoune.