Franchon Crews-Dezurn outworks Shadasia Green to reclaim WBC belt
Baltimore boxer Franchon Crews-Dezurn (9-2, 2KO, 1NC) defeated the previously unbeaten Shadasia Green (13-1, 11KO) by unanimous decision to capture the vacant WBC super-middleweight title on the undercard of the Jake Paul vs Andre August event at the Caribe Royale Orlando.
Judges Alexander Levin (98-92), Frederick Fluty (97-93) and Tina Griffith (97-93) credited Crews-Dezurn for winning a scrappy affair that saw more clinches than clean punches.
34-year-old Green is a former Division I point guard from Paterson, New Jersey, and entered the ring as an 8-1 favourite over the former undisputed super-middleweight champion, whose only losses came from UK’s Savannah Marshall earlier this year and Claressa Shields on her professional debut in 2016.
'The Sweet Terminator', named so for her power, couldn’t connect with her typical strong shots against the clever Crews-Dezurn.
Now a two-time world champion, 34-year-old Crews-Dezurn took back the WBC women’s super middleweight belt she conceded to England’s Savannah Marshall five months back. The County Durham star, known as 'The Silent Assassin', defeated Crews-Dezurn by majority decision to win the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO belts on July 1 at AO Arena in Manchester.
Marshall was named the WBC’s champion recess in September, due to an injury keeping her on the safe side of the ropes, which enabled Crews-Dezurn and Green to challenge for the vacant WBC bauble.
Green needed a knockout in the 10th and final round to salvage the win, yet she couldn’t quite catch the tricky customer, who outworked and outboxed her junior. Crews-Dezurn landed a right and then a left about 20 seconds into the 10th round.
Rallying late, Green was able to land more punches during the ninth round than in most of the previous rounds, but Crews-Dezurn messily tied her up enough to keep her from building any momentum. Green caught Crews-Dezurn with a left hook that knocked her off balance five seconds into that penultimate round.
"The Heavy Hitting Diva" did what she had to claim the win and now sets up her desired rematch with rival Marshall in 2024.
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