By Vince D’Writer: Undisputed super-middleweight champion Franchon Crews-Dezurn will be fighting for legacy and respect tonight, LIVE on ESPN+ and Sky Sports in UK, when she defends her crown against Savannah Marshall (12-1, 10 KOs) at the AO Arena in Manchester, England.
Prior to conquering the super-middleweight division, Crews-Dezurn always felt like a champion, but now she has the belts to prove it. A certain level of respect comes along with being undisputed, but Crews-Dezurn believes the belts don’t define her because she knows that she has always been a special talent, and the belts are just extra jewelry.
Born in Virginia but a long-time resident of Baltimore, Maryland, Franchon Crews-Dezurn made her professional debut back in November 2016. After multiple women turned down the fight opportunity, Crews-Dezurn accepted the challenge of facing two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Claressa Shields on only two and a half weeks’ notice.
In the opening round of the bout, Shields came out of her corner and threw a solid overhand right. Crews-Dezurn and Shields proceeded to stand in the pocket and exchange hard shots. In an action-packed four-round affair, Claressa Shields earned a unanimous decision victory over Franchon Crews-Dezurn.
After losing her professional debut, Crews-Dezurn would go on a three-fight win streak. In August 2018, she defeated Maricela Cornejo to pick up her fourth professional victory, and as a result of the win, she also collected the vacant WBC super-middleweight title.
Four years later, Franchon Crews-Dezurn defeated Elin Cederroos and became the undisputed super-middleweight world champion. Now she’s set to make the first defense of her crown against a very tough opponent.
Savannah Marshall is a former world champion who is receiving a second chance at becoming undisputed. Back in October 2022, Marshall lost her bid to become undisputed in the middleweight division when she suffered a defeat to Claressa Shields by way of unanimous decision.
Nine months later, Savannah Marshall has an opportunity to become undisputed in the super-middleweight division. Marshall acknowledges feeling pressure due to the fact that in addition to having a second chance of becoming undisputed, she also has a chance of losing two big fights in a row.
Crews-Dezurn and Marshall are familiar, as they faced each other in the amateurs, at the 2011 Olympic Test Event. Crews-Dezurn believes that Marshall’s victory was a controversial one because she claims she went into the last round up by two points, but somehow she went on to lose to Marshall by two points.
Similar to Claressa Shields, on Saturday, July 1st, Franchon Crews-Dezurn will have the opportunity to avenge her amateur loss to Marshall. At this very moment, Crews-Dezurn is the best super-middleweight in the world, and she should feel like she’s on top of the world, but she admits that she doesn’t have that feeling.
“I feel like I don’t get the respect I deserve. Even coming here, I feel like I’m not respected, and this is just a pit stop on the road to my final destination,” Crews-Dezurn stated on the Sky Sports show ‘The Gloves Are Off.’
The Crews-Dezurn vs. Marshall clash is promoted by BOXXER, and fans are anticipating a toe-to-toe, action-packed battle. Franchon Crews-Dezurn is the hard-hitting champion, and Savannah Marshall is the KO artist, as 10 of her 12 victories have come by way of knockout.
The 36-year-old undisputed super-middleweight champion Franchon ” The Heavy Hitting Diva” Crews-Dezurn (8-1, 2 KOs) says she has already made history and helped push women’s boxing, and now the rest of her career is about legacy and respect. Crews-Dezurn has a hit list, and one name that is included on the hit list is undisputed middleweight champion Claressa Shields.
Franchon Crews-Dezurn would like to avenge her debut loss and then continue to check off the other names on her list, but before she can do that, she must first take care of business against Savannah Marshall on July 1st, 7 p.m. BST/2 p.m. ET live on Sky Sports in the UK and on ESPN+ in the U.S.
