On July 1, undisputed super middleweight champion Franchón Crews-Dezurn (8-1, 2 KOs, 1 ND) defends her titles against Savannah Marshall (12-1, 10 KOs). Their fight will headline a card at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England and is being promoted by Boxxer. ESPN+ will broadcast the fight in the USA and Sky Sports will do so in the UK. Ahead of their clash on July 1, Big Fight Weekend delves into the career of Crews-Dezurn.
Amateur and early professional career
Born in Norfolk, Virginia, Crews-Dezurn spent 12 years on the amateur circuit in which she also represented USA internationally. She medalled twice at the Women’s World Boxing Championships as a light heavyweight. The first time, she won silver in Qinhuangdao, China, in 2012 and won bronze in Astana, Kazakhstan, in 2016. Crews-Dezurn was also part of the first ever U.S. Olympic Team Trials for women’s boxing at the 2012 Olympics.
On November 19, 2016, Crews-Dezurn made her professional debut against Claressa Shields. Their four round bout took place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on the undercard of Sergey Kovalev-Andre Ward I. Shields emerged victorious in that fight and went on to win world titles at super welterweight, middleweight, and super middleweight. Since losing to Shields, Crews-Dezurn has remained unbeaten (a 2020 split decision loss to Alejandra Jimenez was declared a no decision following a failed drug test by Jimenez). Crews-Dezurn only needed three fights after her debut before she became involved in a world title fight.
Crews-Dezurn becomes world champion, then undisputed
In September 2018, Crews-Dezurn faced Maricela Cornejo for the WBC super middleweight title. The fight was held at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Crews-Dezurn won a majority decision with two judges scoring the fight 99-91 and one judge having it 95-95. After one non-title fight, she rematched Cornejo and won a unanimous decision at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. With the win, she unified the WBC and WBO titles.
Crews-Dezurn temporarily lost her titles following a split decision loss to Jimenez in 2020. After Jimenez failed a drug test, she was stripped of her titles and Crews-Dezurn was reinstated as unified world champion. That bout wound up being her only of 2020. In 2021, she again fought only once in a non-title fight.
On April 30, 2022, Crews-Dezurn received the opportunity to become undisputed against Elin Cederroos, an undefeated fighter who held the IBF and WBA titles. Crews-Dezurn had her hand raised in the end as two judges scored the fight 99-91 while the third had it 97-93.
Crews-Dezurn vs. Marshall
On July 1, Crews-Dezurn defends her undisputed status for the very first time. Also looking to become undisputed is former middleweight champion Marshall. Previously, Marshall fought Shields for all the belts at middleweight, losing via unanimous decision. Will Crews-Dezurn successfully defend her titles, or will Marshall finally become undisputed champion? Fight fans will soon learn the answer to that question when the two face off this Saturday.
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