In a push and shove grind it out kind of fight, Savannah Marshall (13-1, 10 ko) was able to close the show strong and defeat Franchon Crews-Dezurn (8-2, 2 ko) by majority decision by scores of 95-95, 97-93 and 99-92 to become the undisputed super middleweight champion. ITRBoxing scored the fight for Marshall 97-93.

It seemed early like Marshall had a hard time adapting to the size and physical strength of Crews-Dezurn, who went body to body and shoved Marshall around, smothering her offense and working more effectively on the inside. But by round 5, Marshall started to find the range a bit more and was able to create some space for her work down the stretch, taking rounds 8-10 pretty clean. It was a gritty, rugged performance and Marshall’s second at the top level of the sport in under a year, her first being a decision loss to Claressa Shields in a fight of the year contender back in October.

When asked what would be next for her, and if a rematch with Claressa Shields was her priority, Marshall said “Yea, if its there and she wants it, I’ll give it. But I also know becoming a champion with these mandatories, theres also another woman in America called Shadasia Green who’s waited in line for her shot so, I’ll have to see what my team wants to do.”

Marshall got this shot because she was a voluntary defense taken in place of Crews-Dezurn’s longtime mandatory, Paterson NJ’s Shadasia Green (12-0, 11 ko). Though the rematch with Shields would be massive, it appears Green could be next, and even Shields herself said on twitter she has no issue waiting.

Green, when asked for her thoughts on the fight and if she expects to be next for Marshall told ITRBoxing “It was a great fight, Franchon brought it like I thought she would and Savannah made adjustments to make the fight wider in her favor. Marshall earned some rest and look forward to dancing with her in the near future !”

Marshall does deserve a rest. She said she broke her hand during the fight, and Crews-Dezurn was a tough, physical champion who brought the fight and gave it her all. But Marshall vs. Green is one of the best fights in women’s boxing, and we look forward to seeing it.