(Exclusive): PFL CEO Peter Murray drops major hint on boxers that could 'absolutely revisit' their rivalry in the SmartCage
Peter Murray recently dropped a major hint regarding a boxing rivalry that could make it's way to the PFL SmartCage in the future.
Apart from their acquisition of Bellator, the PFL have made a number of additions to their roster including Francis Ngannou, Jake Paul, Amanda Serrano, and Savannah Marshall.
During an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Murray shared his thoughts on bolstering the women's roster and hinted that Marshall could cross paths with her former boxing foe Claressa Shields. He said:
"We're really excited about Savannah [Marshall] making her debut coming up in the U.K. - likely in Newcastle - more details to follow on that... And then once she develops a little further, those two competitors [Marshall and Claressa Shields] will absolutely revisit the opportunity to fight one another, but not in boxing, in MMA...And so, we're gonna get to see both Claressa and Savannah get after it again in the PFL SmartCage."
Shields and Marshall competed in the main event of the U.K.'s first-ever all female boxing event at the O2 Arena in London, England last October. On the night, the Michigan native earned a unanimous decision win and retained her middleweight championship.
It will be interesting to see how soon the PFL looks to book the rematch, and what would transpire should they compete in an MMA bout in the SmartCage.
PFL CEO Peter Murray opens up about importance of Bellator Champions Series
PFL CEO Peter Murray opened up about the importance of the Bellator Champions Series as well as the regular season formats.
During the aforementioned interview, Murray shared his thoughts on keeping the Bellator brand alive under a new format, and noted that each one-off event will feature a championship bout on top of a number of high quality fights. He said:
"The inspiration and the vision behind this is with the acquisition, we value the Bellator brand...Our view is this series really presents an opportunity to ensure that candidly; every fight, every event matters. We're not just staging fights to stage fights, and now we developed a series format."