Crews-Dezurn Punches Past Cornejo for Middleweight Crown

By Marc Livitz: Franchon Crews-Dezurn put on a ten round puncher’s clinic on Thursday night at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas at the expense of Maricela Cornejo for the interim WBC world female super middleweight title.

Crews-Dezurn (4-1, 1 KO) was the aggressor early on, as she sought to land overhand rights and use various tactics in attempts to frustrate her Los Angels opponent. Referee Jay Nady called for a brief timeout about thirty seconds into round two when Franchon intentionally threw Maricela to the mat. The Maryland resident was cautioned and the action continued. As the third was underway, Crews-Dezurn was more than holding her own against Cornejo (12-3, 5 KO’s) and she landed a hard right with thirty seconds to spare. Franchon was taking part in just her fifth fight as a professional since she made her debut in November of 2016, when she dropped a four round decision to perhaps the top talent in all of women’s boxing, Claressa Shields.

Maricela continued to stick the jab into the fourth, while Franchon continued to find success with the same right hand that had served her well thus far. Midway into round five, Crews-Dezrun connected with a nice left uppercut which visibly backed Mari up. She didn’t stop playing the assertive role in the sixth and ‘La Diva’ Cornejo didn’t have much in terms of an answer, even when Franchon connected with an impressive right to the chin early in the next round.

Nevertheless, Maricela remained poised and played the boxer to Franchon’s fighter. Cornejo absorbed more body shots alongside quick fire combinations to the head. She complained to her corner of sore legs and back spasms and by this point, most would agree that she’d need a knockout to win the contest.

Late in round nine, Maricela appeared to show clear signs of exhaustion, as a small push from her adversary from the east sent her to the canvas. Through as many rounds, Franchon had the upper hand in the power punch category by a margin of over one hundred. She put on a fine show. The ringside judges’ scores were as follows: a laughable 95-95 draw from Patricia Morse Jarman, which thankfully were countered with two scorecards of 99-91 apiece from Tim Cheatham and Dave Moretti.

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