Franchón Crews-Dezurn: “Boxing was my journey, and I am blessed by it. Boxing saved my life.”

Franchón Crews-Dezurn: “Boxing was my journey, and I am blessed by it. Boxing saved my life.”

Another training session finished. Another Zoom interview is about to begin. In both regards, a relentless grind. But there are no complaints about either. Both are the mandated requirements as fight night approaches. Franchon Crews-Dezurn is only days away from defending her undisputed world super-middleweight titles on away soil. A trip to Manchester awaits. And so does Savannah Marshall.

“It’s going well. Everything is on schedule. I’m looking good, feeling good and I am going to fight amazing.” Franchon tells me. She sounds confident as the first bell nears. The American was the opening act in her last fight. A historic night in New York. The iconic Madison Square Garden the perfect setting for Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano on their night of destiny. Franchon opened the main card last April. This time she will close it. Her fight with Savannah Marshall sits quite nicely at the top of the card.

“It feels great to be the main event,” Franchon says. “I have always thought of myself as top billing. I’ve been patiently putting in the work and the stars have now aligned and I am now the main event.”

There has been no fight since last April. Over a year of inactivity since her crowning night against Elin Cederroos. A return has been close, but no reward has been forthcoming.

“Well, you know boxing as a business. Some contracts and fights didn’t come to fruition.” Franchon relays, but is balanced and not bitter about her extended time away. “I don’t trip, everything happens for a reason. But now is the right time and I get to fight in the UK in front of the UK fans and I will get to meet some amazing people and put my titles on display for the whole world.”

Franchon was ringside last October for that big night of celebration for women’s boxing. An all-female card headlined by Claressa Shields and Marshall settling, or at least trying to, their personal feud. Franchon was a more than interested spectator almost certainly knowing either fighter could be in her future.

“Savannah is a great fighter and I saw that she was tough and determined.” The American observed. “We both have a lot of amateur experience and I feel she is a worthy opponent. Savannah has been on pound-for-pound lists when I wasn’t even mentioned. So I think this is the right for me and the right fight for her, especially with Savannah coming off a loss. It has been a fight in the making for a while but it is coming now.”

It seems a fight that makes a lot of sense for the current undisputed champion of the world. Franchon has been proving people wrong her entire life. The odds say she will have to do so again. The British challenger is the strong betting favourite, and Franchon will have to deal with all the constraints of being the ‘away’ fighter. But Franchon is up for what lies ahead:

“I don’t feel like I am the B-side no matter how much they try and paint her as the A-side. I’m the ‘Top Dog’ with or without the belts. I was there for the Press Conference and I made my presence felt without doing too much. I know what I am up against, the politics will be the biggest opponent I am up against. I know my ability in the ring, I know what I can do so as long as everything is fair I have no quarrel with anything. I am number one and I will continue to prove it.”

A win over Marshall on the Boxxer card on July 1st could set up a rematch with her fellow American Claressa Shields, who she fought on her professional debut in 2016. They are now friends, and there is mutual respect between them, despite the fact that they are likely to fight each other again:

“Before Claressa I was the top dog at middleweight and super-middleweight and when she came along she ran with it and made such an amazing career for herself. Claressa made such a great statement for women’s boxing and made a lot of opportunities for a lot of women.”

Even now, after all Franchon has achieved in her boxing career there is still that feeling she is being underrated and overlooked for her fight with Marshall. But there is a calmness about her demeanour, a sense that she understands her role in the production. But equally, a determination to write her own narrative once that first bell rings:

“I have been underrated for a lot of my career. I stepped out for my first fight as a professional. It was on a bit of a whim I wasn’t planning on going professional. I got a call and on two and half weeks’ notice, I was in Las Vegas making my professional debut. I went through a lot of adversity. A lot of hardship. But it has made me the person I am today and has put me in this position right here. It’s no testimony without a test.”

There were ambitions to be a singer in her youth, a passion she has now got to embrace, and that formed her entry into boxing. Although she was no stranger to exchanging punches, albeit on the cobbles and without gloves, prior to that first walk into a boxing gym. Franchon conceded that she had a bit of a rebellious nature in her teen years, boxing has curbed that and so much more:

“I was just trying to be a singer. I was a cool street fighter. I could fight on the streets, I fought girls, I fought boys, I didn’t care. I was just trying to be a singer, get skinny and become a pop star and the next thing I knew I was in a boxing gym. I was in a studio and my friend said you could lose five pounds with boxing. I went to the gym and never left. Boxing was my journey and I am blessed by it. Boxing saved my life.

“Boxing really did save my life. It taught me discipline and how to focus. You can play other sports but you can’t play boxing. Boxing taught me life lessons in that what you put in nine times out of ten is what you will get out. If you put in the hard work then the odds of you winning will be greater for you.”

Franchon has packed plenty into her life. The passion for singing has blossomed including an appearance on American Idol. A fashion designer is another little addition to her resume. Boxing is only part of her story. Prior to her maiden entry into the world of professional boxing, there were medals at the World Amateur Championships among her other achievements in the unpaid ranks. Since that loss on her debut to Shields, she hasn’t tasted defeat since. Unblemished. Undisputed. How far Franchon has come hasn’t been lost on the fighter:

“Every day I think about it. Every day I have gratitude. Trust me, not every day is a good day. I am very positive but not every day is like sunshine and roses. I get down in the dumps and frustrated. But then gratitude and thinking about how far I have come and everything I have accomplished helps me get out there and go for that run and keep fighting. So yeah, I have come a long way and I am grateful.”

But Franchon believes this is only the start for her:

“I feel like going undisputed was my coronation. Going from a girl to a women. From just being a fighter to becoming a real boxer. I still feel people haven’t seen the best of me. It feels like a long time and I am now embarking on my prime.”