Savannah Marshall vs Femke Hermans joins Benn-Vargas on April 10th

Shannon Courtenay vs. Ebanie Bridges won’t be the only women’s title fight on the April 10th Conor Benn vs. Samuel Vargas undercard. Matchroom has announced that Savannah Marshall will defend her WBO middleweight title against former super middleweight champion Femke Hermans.

Marshall (9-0, 7 KO), best known for her 2012 amateur victory over Claressa Shields, demolished Hannah Rankin to claim the vacant belt in October 2020. Though she remains basically the only meaningful matchup left for “T-Rex” in the ring and the two have continued to jaw back and forth, she’ll have to deal with Hermans (11-3, 4 KO) first.

The 31-year-old Belgian defeated Nikki Adler for the WBO super middleweight title in 2018, though she never ended up defending it, and fell short in later title bids against Shields and Elin Cederros. She last saw action in December, winning the European middleweight belt against Luiza Davydova.

Via Sky Sports:

“I’m really happy and I can’t wait for fight night in three weeks’ time,” said Marshall, who claimed a world title in only her ninth professional bout.

“I’m very aware of Femke Herman, a very good fighter. She’s been in with the best, she’s a former WBO world champion, so I’m sure she’s going to try and get her belt back.

“I know she’s no pushover and I’m looking forward to getting in there.”

“For me, this is probably my toughest test to date, the reigning European champion. She lost out on a close decision to the world super-middleweight champion, so I know it’s going to be a tough fight.

“I never go into a fight thinking I’m going to stop someone but I know if I land, whoever I land on, I will hurt them.

“I’m just looking forward to putting on a good display and showcasing my skills.”