For many female boxers, the biggest fight is outside the ropes. There are still high-profile promoters who are entrenched in their resistance towards the progression of women’s boxing, so gaining parity; financially and in terms of respect in a male dominated sport is an arduous task. But it is heading in the right direction, and few are doing more to shine a positive light than America’s super middleweight champion Franchon Crews-Dezurn who faces Elin Cederroos on April 30th. The bout will be for all the marbles and will take place at the iconic venue that many see as the mecca of boxing, Madison Square Garden and will be part of a historic undisputed double header that also features lightweight superstars Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano.
Achieving the title of undisputed world champion is a dream for any boxer, but boxing was not a career that was even contemplated by Crews-Dezurn as a youngster, though she has always been comfortable competing in sports that feature predominantly male participants and has fought, both physically and for equal opportunities. “I don’t know, man, I was just a tomboy, I was one of those kids who always wanted to play with the boys.” Said Crews-Dezurn.
“ I was very competitive, I’ve always been the type like ‘You can’t tell me what to do, I wanna do what the boys are doing’, I played with Barbies because I designed their clothes and made stuff out of socks but I wanted to play tackle football, I wanted to play basketball, I wanted to wrestle, so you know I really had a competitive spirit about me and I tried my best to excel at anything I did.”
“I just started boxing to lose weight for singing.” Explained the champion who once auditioned for the Simon Cowell driven talent show American Idol. “I knew I was tough; I knew I could fight but I didn’t ever know that I would have an opportunity because when I started, there was no Olympics, no women in the Olympics. The only introduction I had to the Olympics was gymnastics and I was too big and too old to start doing gymnastics, so I wasn’t making it there, I did not plan on going pro, I’m just a representation of seizing the moment.”
Seizing the moment is exactly what the woman nicknamed ‘The Heavy Hitting Diva’ has done throughout her life, including taking on an Olympic gold medallist on her professional debut, when she faced the now world-renowned multi-weight world champion, Claressa Shields, who incidentally was also fighting for the first time professionally. Speaking of the time the pair met in the ring as professional debutants, she said, “I have always known I was one of the best, she knew I was one of the best. She had to go through me to get where she was. The opportunity came and I knew how big it was, her being the golden girl coming out of the Olympics. She was turned down by like thirteen girls, I’m like ‘where’s your cojones? How are y’all wanting to be world champions when you are scared of four rounds with another fighter?’
“I knew the stipulations, like if I didn’t knock her out, I probably wasn’t going to win, I had only two and a half weeks to train, everything went really fast, but I knew I had confidence in myself, I knew I wouldn’t get beat up too bad. It was just a wonderful night for women’s boxing.” Franchon lost a points decision that night but showing that confidence so early in a professional career is commendable and although there is the rationale that the talent pool is significantly shallower in women’s boxing, those big fights can happen without it damaging a fighter’s fledgling career too early. She added, “I bet on myself and made it clear to the matchmaker and promoter, I’m not just ‘an opponent.’ That is when I was managing myself at the time, leveraging my opportunity to pursue my own career down the road. I feel like I did what I had to do; we are both in great positions now.”
Not only was Crews-Dezurn self-managed and self-promoted for that debut, but she also found a way to showcase her creative side, confidently striding, almost sashaying down the pathway of her ring walk in an eye-catching purple outfit complete with tassels that she designed herself to her very own song. There’s a fierceness and flamboyance about Crews-Dezurn that makes her a must watch. It certainly showed that the inclusion of the word ‘Diva’ to the nickname was very much validated. Asked if there were any plans to sing live at her own fight she joked, “I was thinking, I could pull a Tyson Fury, perhaps I will do a little Tyson Fury at the end.”
That connection she shares with Claressa Shields may come full circle as being an undisputed world champion makes her an attractive prospect to the likes of Shields and Savannah Marshall who are currently operating at middleweight. “When it comes to Claressa, we are respectively rivals in our sport, you know, we have been pushing each other competitively, always reaching for that level of greatness and we’ve talked about it, like who wouldn’t want to see two undisputed champions fighting? On the flip side, Claressa told me the other day she’s gonna be at my fight, so I think that is encouraging for me, even though she is watching, she’s scouting and supporting. She knows how hard I’ve worked to get to this point, it’s all love, when we get in the ring, we’re gonna fight, but out of it, it’s respect. As for Savannah, I hope she’s watching, I mean, she needs me, I don’t need her. She’s a big draw in the UK, an Olympian and everything, but in the pro’s I’m running it right now.”
Crews-Dezurn only has that one loss to Shields on her professional record, but that doesn’t quite tell the whole story and the adversity she has faced during that successful period. She defended her WBO and WBC titles Alejandro Jimenez in 2020, losing on the scorecards, but later being rightfully reinstated as champion after Jimenez tested positive for banned substances. “I try not to think about too much now because it is still a traumatic situation.” Taking her time to explain she continued, “I got my belts back, but I could have died that night, I could have endured injuries that ended my boxing career. To think someone would go that far for a piece of metal, where’s your integrity? Where’s your self-belief? I wouldn’t do that to my worst enemy, I’d rather lose honourably than to go out like that. What if we wouldn’t have had drug testing? Especially being women in boxing, we don’t get a lot of the same resources, attention and respect. It was a world title fight, but I have seen world title fights in small venues where there is no testing. I’m grateful that I was strong enough physically and mentally to get through it and be able to expose that this shit happens in women’s boxing too, I brought light through my situation.”
Her determination, spirit and ingenuity has taken her so far in her career, but it is indicative of how acutely aware she is of the business she is in, that she knew exactly how to take her career to the next level, not allowing her fierce independence to be an obstacle to her progression. “I’ve always been goal driven, and wanted to be the best, wanted to be the greatest, I was self-managed probably 75 to 80 percent of my career. After I won my second title, my WBO, of course I wanted to be undisputed and things were just kinda weird, but then I met my new manager Peter Kahn, and he was like the missing puzzle piece.”
Speaking of the importance of only having someone that would enhance her career further, she added, “Securing the undisputed fight was very important because I’ve been on this journey for over half my life and though I may not be where I think I should be, as far as popularity and fame, I’m very proud of where I have got to so far. Anyone I pursue out there to work with, I have always kept it real that if you can’t bring more to the table than I have got myself, then there’s no point in working together. I’ve gotten two world titles, I have had 2 promotional contracts, but now I have someone who is actively leading the way and if I bring something to him, he is able to execute it in those rooms. Peter definitely matched my swag, and he is able to get to those rooms and have conversations with people who may not have given me the time of day due to me being a boxer, me being a woman, a Black woman perhaps. You know, they might not have taken me seriously because I am not a person like Peter with over 20 years’ experience, but he has kept his word and has been supportive ever since we have worked together. He told me things we are going to do, he said we are going to go for undisputed and we are going for undisputed.”
It is no secret that Matchroom have done as much if not more than any other big promoter to enhance women’s boxing as a platform and Crews-Dezurn having recently joined them, is hoping to reap the same rewards as many others who have gained invaluable exposure. Though there is still plenty to be done to rid the sport of the archaic misogynists that sadly still blight some aspects of the media, she is positive about her link up with Matchroom and the future of women’s boxing as a whole. “They are doing amazing things, to be a part of that and to be able to showcase my talent there and create such an iconic moment, it is a match made in boxing heaven. There is still a lot to be done, shoutout to Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano making 7 figures, I’m definitely not making 7 figures but I’m grateful for the platform and the opportunity and hopefully it leads to more things, especially when we talk about equality for men and women’s fights, that’s why I think the money will come on, I just have to do the best I can do with what I have and just be grateful. I know the girls coming up behind us are gonna get their worth.”
That outlook from Franchon Crews-Dezurn reflects her core beliefs and it comes back to the theory of taking her chance and seizing every opportunity and whether that is an opportunity for herself personally or for others to benefit as a consequence further down the line, she always takes it. “I didn’t plan for any of this, but I will tell you, when I was younger, I always knew I would be famous, I just didn’t know how. Wherever the wind blows me, I’m gonna make it count.” Seeing her achievements already and speaking to Franchon, I have no reason to disbelieve her.