SAVANNAH MARSHALL will return to the ring in Newcastle next month after continuing her rise through the professional ranks with an emphatic victory over Brazilian Daniele Bastieri.

Making her Matchroom debut at London’s O2 Arena on the undercard of Vasiliy Lomachenko’s thrilling World title win over Luke Campbell, Marshall stopped her opponent in the fifth round to extend her unbeaten professional record to 7-0.

The Hartlepool fighter – an amateur World champion – was in control throughout, landing a succession of straight shots and rocking Bastieri with a powerful left hook in the third round.

Two heavy lefts sent Bastieri to the canvas to the fifth, causing the referee to step in to prevent further damage.

Marshall’s long-term goal is a World-title fight with Claressa Shields, and she will be back in action again next month as part of the support to Matchroom’s eagerly-awaited bill at Newcastle’s Utilita Arena that will be headlined by Geordie fighter Lewis Ritson’s domestic showdown with Robbie Davies Jnr.

“I’m over the moon to have won, especially with the stoppage,” said Marshall. “I was expecting her to come to me as a bit of a bull, but she didn’t, so it took me a few rounds to get into it. I’m 7-0 now, and I’ll be back out in Newcastle on October 19 in a massive step up.”

Marshall was fighting at super-middleweight, and with Shields edging towards the super-welterweight, the pair, who have traded comments on social media in the last few weeks, would almost certainly have to meet up at middleweight to settle their differences.

Marshall is the only person to have beaten Shields, who is widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound female fighter in the world, having overcome the American as she claimed the World amateur title in 2012.

“I’d like to think I could make super-welter, but I don’t think I can,” said Marshall.

“I’m a big super-middle, so if the fight is going to happen somewhere down the line, I’d think it would have to be at middleweight.”