Savannah Marshall Defeats Franchon Crews and Other Results from Manchester
By David A. Avila
In a brutal and somewhat sloppy fight Savannah Marshall defeated Franchon Crews-Dezurn to become the new undisputed super middleweight champion on Saturday.
It was not picturesque.
Fighting 100 miles from her hometown, Marshall (13-1, 10 Kos) battled her way to victory over America’s Crews-Dezurn (8-2, 2 Kos) in front of a large vocal crowd at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.
Marshall now holds the WBO, WBA, WBC and IBF super middleweight titles. It’s her second division world title.
“I can’t describe how I feel,” said Marshall.
From the opening round Crews attacked Marshall boring in with punches and never allowing the taller fighter to use her height and leverage to unload her powerful blows. Marshall clinched immediately in the first round.
Marshall made some adjustments in the second round as Crews attacked boldly again. Marshall fired a few counters and clinched again in a closer round than the first.
It was clear that Crews was not going to allow Marshall to fight on the outside and use her reach. The American champion dived in again while pumping blows to the body and head. Most of her overhand rights flew over the target. Marshall connected with a clean right counter.
Beginning in the fourth round Marshall used her jab as Crews attacked. That stalled the champion and allowed for space for the British fighter to connect. Though not many blows were landed by either fighter, Marshall’s were cleaner and more visible.
Both fighters clinched inside and it seemed Crews was the physically stronger between the two in grappling. Little by little the clinching seemed to take energy away from Marshall.
Around the 7th round the constant dive attacks of Crews began to take a physical toll on Marshall. The energy seemed to wane from the British fighter and Crews was able to score more than in the previous three rounds. It was Crews best round since the second.
The constant grappling and clinching continued to take energy away from Marshall. Crews seemed more energized and though few punches were clean, she was scoring to the body and head.
It seemed a rallying point for Crews during the seventh and eighth but the rounds were never clearly defined. Neither fighter was ever visibly hurt by each other.
Marshall mustered up energy in the ninth round, beginning with a clean left hook. Then a three-punch combination followed by a two-punch combination connected for the British fighter. Crews lost the momentum she had gained.
In the 10th and final round, it was unclear who was winning. Neither fighter could truly hurt the other. And were judges scoring the body blows.
Both fighters tangled immediately and though each fired blows it was Crews who was the busier fighter. But neither was able to connect cleanly with any blows. After 10 rugged rounds the judges saw the fight 95-95, 99-92, 97-93 for Marshall who wins by majority decision and becomes the new undisputed super middleweight champion.
“She’s a tough, tough fighter,” said Marshall about Crews-Dezurn.
Natasha Jonas Wins
Despite moving down a weight division Natasha Jonas battered Canada’s Kandi Wyatt before ending the fight by technical knockout in a welterweight world title fight.
The end was seldom in doubt.
Jonas, the former super welterweight champion, dropped down to 147 and immediately displayed her firepower in staggering Canada’s taller Wyatt with a left cross. The southpaw fighter immediately went on attack and tried to end the fight in the first round, but could not.
After expending extra energy in the first round Jonas budgeted her punch outtake in the second round, but quickly discovered her right hooks rocked Wyatt and once again went back on attack. She ended the round with lead left bombs.
Still, Wyatt was upright.
Jonas boxed and moved toward her left, not her right as southpaws normally do. It seemed to puzzle Wyatt. Jonas was in complete control of the fight through the first four rounds.
Wyatt made her move in the fifth round by targeting the body. Unable to score often to the head in the earlier rounds, the Canadian fighter’s work to the body opened up more targets and changed the momentum slightly. It was Wyatt’s best round so far.
It must have made an impression on Jonas who opened up with crisp one-two combinations one after another. All connected and jolted Wyatt. Jonas was back in control. A succession of three crisp left crosses connected at the end of the sixth round.
Jonas took over completely in the seventh round with three-punch combinations one after the other. Wyatt’s head snapped back causing the referee to look more cautiously. Wyatt fired back or else the fight might have been stopped.
In the eighth round it was evident that Jonas had no fear of Wyatt’s punches and she attacked with more three-punch combinations. Wyatt absorbed the shots but was unable to fire back with any power. A crisp left connect by Jonas caused the referee to rush in and stop the action at 33 seconds of the eighth round.
Jonas was declared the new IBF welterweight world titlist by technical knockout.
Now who will Jonas face next?
“I don’t really care,” Jonas said to SKY Sports. “I’ll fight whoever the fans want to see.”
Other bouts
Olympic silver medalist Ben Whittaker (4-0) won by stoppage in the eighth and final round over Vlad Belujsky (13-7-1) in a light heavyweight fight. The tall rangy fighter displayed a powerful left hook and agility in his one-sided win.
Callum Simpson (12-0) remained undefeated but had a tough time against Boris Crighton (11-4) who withstood every attack by the favored fighter. Simpson had problems smothering his own attacks but managed to out-punch Crighton to win the super middleweight 10-round fight by unanimous decision.
Mark Jeffers (16-0) used his counter-punching style and quickness to defeat Zak Chelli (13-2-1) and win a regional title by unanimous decision.
In a female super welterweight match April Hunter (7-1) out-worked Kirstie Bavington (7-5-2) to win by decision after eight rounds.