Franchon Crews-Dezurn will be making the first defense of her undisputed super middleweight title, but her opponent will be different from the one initially ordered.
A source confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday that Crews-Dezurn will fight Savannah Marshall in June in the United Kingdom on a Ben Shalom BOXXER card instead of Shadasia Green, who had been named the WBC mandatory challenger earlier this week.
Green will remain the mandatory challenger and will now be the ordered as the opponent for the winner of Crews-Dezurn vs. Marshall, according to a source. Green will be allowed to take another fight in the meantime if she so chooses.
A source told ESPN that the WBC was unaware of the Crews-Dezurn vs. Marshall deal when it made the order for Crews-Dezurn vs. Green.
Crews-Dezurn (8-1, 2 KO), ESPN’s top-ranked super middleweight, became the undisputed champion last April when she beat Elin Cederroos by unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden on the undercard of the Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano fight.
Crews-Dezurn has not fought since. Her only credited loss came to Claressa Shields in both fighters’ debut in 2016. In 2020, Crews-Dezurn initially lost a split decision to Alejandra Jiménez, but it was later ruled a no-contest because of a failed drug test, returning the belts to Crews-Dezurn.
Marshall (12-1, 10 KO) last fought in October, losing a unanimous decision to Shields for the undisputed middleweight title. It will be Marshall’s first fight at super middleweight since 2019, when she knocked out Ashleigh Curry in the third round.
Sports Illustrated first reported the Crews-Dezurn vs. Marshall fight.