In-ring success has not been hard to come by for Franchon Crews-Dezurn.
Finding the opportunities to actually make her way to the ring, however, has been a different story.
The former undisputed super middleweight champion has not fought more than once in a calendar year since the pandemic. It didn’t stop her from fully unifying all the 168-pound titles last April, but a ring absence of more than 14 months preceded her ten-round defeat to Savannah Marshall this past July to end her reign without a single defense.
The 36-year-old Baltimore native will now enjoy her quickest ring turnaround in nearly four years, as she will face unbeaten contender Shadasia Green (13-0, 11KOs). The vacant WBC super middleweight title will be at stake for their division rivalry this Friday on DAZN from Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida.
“I’ve been cheesing from ear-to-ear ever since I got this news,” Crews-Dezurn told BoxingScene.com, fittingly through her trademark wide-eye smile. “Big Mama’s coming back for all her babies. It’s a great opportunity to be active as well. I hadn’t fought in almost a year-and-a-half when I went in with Savannah. To have that big fight, even my B-game was rivalling with her A-game.
“To be right back before the end of the year, I feel like I’m going to be a better fighter.”
Crews-Dezurn (8-2, 2KOs; 1NC) was made to realize right out the gate that she would have to put up the fight of her life—figuratively and literally—for anything she wants to achieve in boxing.
Her pro debut came versus double Olympic Gold medalist Claressa Shields, against whom she dropped a four-round decision in their November 2016 meeting. Shields has since captured championships in three weight divisions and already ranks among the greatest female boxers in history.
Crews-Dezurn found a way to carve out her own niche. She claimed the WBC super middleweight title in a September 2018 win over Maricela Cornejo. Their rematch one year later—almost to the day—saw her add the WBO belt to her collection. She was nearly derailed from her January 2020 meeting versus Alejandra Jimenez, who initially claimed a split decision victory only for the verdict to be overturned when she tested positive for a banned substance.
The sanctioning bodies weren’t as quick to return the belts; Crews-Dezurn was reinserted as WBO titlist in March 2020, but had to go the distance with the WBC before being reinstated that June.
Another battle came with Golden Boy Promotions, who couldn’t deliver on a planned undisputed showdown versus WBA/IBF titlist Elin Cederroos. That fight eventually came on a Matchroom Boxing-promoted card last April 30, which saw Crews-Dezurn claim a clear-cut points win in a career-best performance, though nearly 16 months after her No-Contest with Jimenez.
Another 14-plus months passed before her UK debut with Marshall (13-1, 10KOs), where she lost a ten-round decision to end her reign nearly five years after her first title win.
Marshall was due to face Green in a mandatory title defense but filed an injury exception. It wasn’t enough to keep her undisputed reign intact; she is still the lineal, WBA, IBF and WBO champ but was downgraded to WBC ‘Champion In Recess’, while the physical belt is at stake this weekend.
“I got my engine going,” noted Crews-Dezurn. “Then to have the opportunity to fight for the WBC title is just divine order.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox