Heated exchanges in Manchester set the stage for tonight’s showdown between undisputed world super-middleweight champion Franchón Crews-Dezurn and Savannah Marshall. Watch the entire fight card on live on ESPN+ and Sky Sports.
Frequently drowning each other out in loud verbal crossfire, the two went at it in the finale of a press conference which already strongly articulated artillery thrown by participants in undercard bouts.
On the undercard, Light-heavyweight luminary Ben Whittaker will be back in action, the top prospect drawing significant media attention as he heads into his fourth professional bout following a stellar amateur career which culminated in a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
CREWS-DEZURN – MARSHALLÂ START TIME
- Date: Saturday, July 1
- Time: 7 p.m. BST / 2 p.m. ET
- LIVE on ESPN+ in the U.S and Sky Sports in UK
- The fight will take place at the AO Arena in Manchester, England.
- Main event ringwalks (approx):Â 10 p.m. BST / 5 p.m. ET
- The event is set to get underway at 7 p.m. BST / 2 p.m. ET with the main event ringwalks scheduled for 10 p.m. BST / 5 p.m. ET.
Saturday’s BOXXER event airs live and exclusively in the UK on Sky Sports and will also air live in the USA on ESPN.
The card also features Natasha Jonas in a bid to become two-weight world champion as a she moves down in weight to face Kandi Wyatt for the vacant IBF World Welterweight Championship, plus the return to the ring of once-in-a-lifetime talent Ben Whittaker.
FRANCHON CREWS-DEZURN
“I’m not like her, unfortunately she got a defeat because she underestimated [Claressa], that’s what happens when you think everything is going to be given to you.
“You let somebody come into your town, beat you, dog-walk you, you let somebody come and take something that was yours because you got complacent. That’s you, not me.”
“How can you say I sit on my lazy a** and didn’t create an opportunity when it took five minutes to introduce me because I do so many things and when you’ve got hustle personified here.
“I self-manage myself, I made deals with Golden Boy and all these other promoters when you had other things handed to you.
“You had 10 years, 10 rounds to prepare (against Shields) and couldn’t even do it. You better kiss my feet and be happy I came to the ring to give you an opportunity. I’m better than you, I’m more diverse than you.”
SAVANNAH MARSHALL
“I didn’t get complacent at all. You’re nothing like Claressa, you won’t dog-walk me at all.
“The reality of it is I don’t have to say anything, I’m a better fighter than you.
“The difference between me and you is you sit about on your lazy a** waiting for opportunities, this was why you’ve boxed twice in two years.
“When I was at super-middle you didn’t want to entertain me, you didn’t want to know so I moved up to light-heavy where there was a title shot for me, fell through. I moved down to middle to box Hannah Rankin.
“Same with Shadesia Green, she sat as your mandatory for over a year and you didn’t want to know.”
BEN WHITTAKER
“On Saturday again you’ll see why I’m special. We’ve been working on reaction time – me and Sugar (trainer SugarHill Steward) – we’ve been playing a lot of Call of Duty, my fingertips will be ready.
“I’m a man of the Lord. When it comes to me I know they took some time on me – I’ve got the ring walk, the kit, my hair ready, you see the jewels on me too.
“I don’t get paid for overtime, I want to be back in the hotel by the time Savannah is in the ring.”
BOXXER CEO BEN SHALOM ON WHITTAKER
“He’s an elite fighter. There was a lot of talk at the start about whether we’d look at super-middleweight or light-heavyweight, since his injury he’s looked every bit light-heavy.
“We want him to be an absolute superstar. He’s a guy who can bring new fans to the boxing, it’s going to be a big journey ahead, a long journey, he’s going to have those big nights to come.”
CREWS-DEZURN MARSHALL FIGHT CARD
- Franchon Crews-Dezurn vs. Savannah Marshall; For Crews-Dezurn’s IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO women’s world supper middleweight titles
- Zak Chelli vs. Mark Jeffers; Super middleweight
- Natasha Jonas vs. Kandi Wyatt; For the vacant women’s IBF world welterweight title
- Ben Whittaker vs. Vladimir Belujsky; Light heavyweight
- Callum Simpson vs. Boris Crighton; Super middleweight
