Savannah Marshall: 'I'll have to go through hell with Franchon Crews-Dezurn to get the belts'
For Savannah Marshall fighting Franchon Crews-Dezurn is a shot at redemption; After her painful loss to Claressa Shields, Marshall steps up to super-middleweight for a second undisputed title tilt; Watch Crews-Dezurn vs Marshall on July 1, live on Sky Sports
Monday 26 June 2023 16:43, UK
For Savannah Marshall fighting Franchon Crews-Dezurn is a shot at redemption.
She suffered a first professional loss in the biggest fight of her career when she boxed Claressa Shields last year.
Against Shields in London, Marshall lost her WBO title as well as the chance to become the undisputed middleweight champion of the world.
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Now when she boxes Crews-Dezurn on Saturday, live on Sky Sports, Marshall is stepping up to super-middleweight to fight for undisputed once again.
"It'll mean everything," Marshall told Sky Sports. "The build up with Claressa, I was so confident, I was really confident.
"I fell short and all I wanted was to become undisputed champion of the world. Look, I've got another crack at it. Sometimes people don't even get one crack but this is my second crack so I've got to leave it all in there."
She is determined to win back what she used to have, and more.
"A lot of people don't understand that boxing's a business as well and it's a dirty business. It's quite savage. But look, she's here now, she's got all the belts and it saves me shipping about and collecting them one by one. She's brought them all for me," Marshall said.
"If I can't mix it at this level, what good am I in boxing?" she continued. "I have hard camps, I have hard sparring, how can I go from being a world champion to boxing eight rounders again, to boxing foreigners that have just been brought in for a loss?
"I'm not about that. I want to be a champion again."
Crews-Dezurn will make it hard for her. Marshall wants to use her technical skills but at times, she knows, she'll have to brawl.
The champion is a tough and dangerous fighter. "She's very physical, her style's almost unorthodox. Novicey you could say but she's made it work for her," said Marshall, who is familiar with Crews-Dezurn from a 2011 amateur contest which the Briton did win.
"I know that there'll be points where I won't be able to keep her off with the jab. I won't be able to keep her at bay the whole fight. So there will be times in the fight where I'll have to dig deep and go toe-to-toe.
"She's very smart. Very smart in what she does and like I said she's physical," Marshall continued. "She'll have you on the floor, she'll rough you up. She'll punch you in the back of the head, she's that sort of fighter.
"Anyone who's a fighter knows those type of fighters that are novicey, and inexperienced are the worst kind because they're unpredictable and that's what she is.
"She likes to throw people off, she likes to maul people, manhandle them. So I see this being a very physical fight."
Marshall was a heavy puncher at middleweight. But moving up to Crews-Dezurn's weight class sees her giving up her size advantage.
"I'm massive for middle," she said. "Super-middle, I'm like all the other girls up there.
"I haven't boxed at this weight for a couple of years now. It's an eight pound difference so when you're getting in there they're probably a stone heavier from what I've been fighting previously. So these are the things we've took into consideration.
"We've had a lot heavier sparring in. Physical, that are going to throw me about, that are going to be a bit dirty on the inside because that's what she's about."
Though she is prepared for that, Marshall insisted: "I'm going to have to go through hell to get the belts."
'I'm not big on confrontation'
For a professional fighter it's a surprise to hear Marshall admit: "I'm not big on confrontation, I'd rather just sit back and let her crack on."
She is softly spoken, and known as the "Silent Assassin" for good reason. But today, especially after the experience of fighting Shields, she relishes that trappings that come with being a champion; boxing in front of huge crowds and Marshall is even starting to enjoy the recognition.
That's something her younger self could never have imagined. In fact it would have been her "nightmare".
"Worst nightmare," Marshall laughed. "The thought of coming out in front of 20,000 people, she'd probably quit there and then."
