Note to US fight fans—super middleweight world champion Franchon Crews-Dezurn fights ex WBO middleweight world champion Savannah Marshall Saturday at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, and you can watch on ESPN+.
In the 10-round co-feature, junior middleweight world champion Natasha Jonas meets Kandi Wyatt for the vacant IBF welterweight crown.
BOXXER is the production/promotion in charge.
Claressa Shields (L) and Savannah Marshall (R) pose after their undisputed middleweight championship fight at The 02 Arena on October 15, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Mark Robinson/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)
Crews Dezurn-Marshall, Jonas-Wyatt and undercard bouts will stream live and exclusively in the U.S. on ESPN+ starting at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT.
From a release:
Crews-Dezurn (8-1, 2 KOs) was an international amateur standout before turning pro in 2016 against two-time Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields.
She has remained unbeaten since the loss to Shields, capturing the vacant WBC crown via majority decision against Maricela Cornejo in September 2018 and wining the vacant WBO title in a rematch against Cornejo two years later.
In her last fight, Crews-Dezurn defeated then-unbeaten WBA and IBF champion Elin Cederroos via 10-round unanimous decision to become the undisputed queen.
Marshall (12-1, 10 KOs) is a two-time Olympian who holds a win over Shields in as an amateur.
She made her pro debut in August 2017 and captured the vacant WBO middleweight world title with a seventh-round TKO win over Hannah Rankin in October 2020. She defended it three times, all by stoppage.
In her last fight, her feud with Shields culminated an undisputed middleweight title showdown that handed Marshall her first loss as a pro.
She now looks to become champion again in her second opportunity at undisputed glory.
Jonas (13-2-1, 8 KOs) became the first female British boxer to compete in the Olympics in 2012.
She lost to eventual gold medalist Katie Taylor and entered the paid ranks in 2017. Jonas made unsuccessful bids for Terri Harper’s WBC 130-pound title in August 2020 and Taylor’s undisputed lightweight crown in May 2021.
Since then, she has won four straight, including three title showdowns last year that saw her become a three-belt unified junior middleweight champion.
Wyatt (11-4, 3 KOs) is an eight-year pro who challenged Kali Reis for the WBA junior welterweight title in November 2020 and Jessica McCaskill for the undisputed welterweight championship in December 2021.
She is coming off a 10-round split decision win against Kirstie Bavington in March.
In other streaming action from Manchester, United Kingdom:
British Olympic silver medalist Ben Whittaker (3-0, 2 KOs) will square off against Slovakia’s Vladimir Belujsky (13-6-1, 9 KOs) in an eight-round battle that will take place right before the main event.
Whitaker will make his second appearance in 2023 after knocking out Jordan Grant in three rounds in May.
Super middleweight standout Zak Chelli (13-1-1, 6 KOs) takes on unbeaten Mark Jeffers (15-0, 4 KOs) in a 10-rounder.
Chelli has beaten five undefeated opponents, including Germaine Brown for a British super middleweight title in June 2022.
In his last outing, he upset Anthony Sims Jr. via 10-round unanimous decision. Jeffers is coming off a six-round decision win over Serhii Ksendzov in May.
Unbeaten super middleweight Callum Simpson (11-0, 9 KOs) returns against Boris Crighton (11-3, 7 KOs) in a 10-round super middleweight fight
Founder/editor Michael Woods got addicted to boxing in 1990, when Buster Douglas shocked the world with his demolition of the then-impregnable Mike Tyson.
The Brooklyn-based journalist has covered the sport since for ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com, Bad Left Hook and RING. His journalism career started with NY Newsday in 1999.
Michael Woods is also an accomplished blow by blow and color man, having done work for Top Rank, DiBella Entertainment, EPIX, and for Facebook Fightnight Live, since 2017.