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By: Hans Themistode
When Franchon Crews-Dezurn placed her titles on the line against Alejandra Jimenez at the Alamodome, in San Antonio Texas, on January 11th, it was supposed to be nothing more than a speed bump, a stepping stone if you will, on her way to becoming the undisputed champion in the Super Middleweight division.
Yet, that aforementioned speed bump turned into a roadblock.
Jimenez, a former Heavyweight champion, found a way to shrink down to the 168 pound limit to challenge Crews-Dezurn. When the two met in the ring it was bombs away immediately.
Crews-Dezurn may only have two knockouts on her resume but she’s always been known as a big puncher. The former champ landed big shot after big shot. Forget about landing those punches on a woman, you could argue that Crews-Dezurn would have put down numerous men with those same blows. Jimenez on the other hand, just walked right through those punches without breaking a sweat.
After the judges scored the fight in favor of Jimenez it seemed like a fair decision. It was a close fight but Jimenez seemed to do just enough to win it.
Shortly after the win, Crews-Dezurn didn’t flat out call Jimenez a drug cheat but she did have her eyebrows raised.
“It was different,” said Dezurn on Boxing Insider Radio shortly after her loss. “I’ve fought around the world, remember I used to fight at Light Heavyweight as well. I’ve sparred men but it was different. Something was different that’s all I can say. I hit like a Heavyweight, I’ve done testing with USA boxing and I hit as hard as a man but some of the punches she was taking wasn’t normal.”
Since both fighters fought under VADA drug testing, they had their post fight drug test checked. When Jimenez had her results viewed, it revealed anything but normal. A banned substance was found in her “A” sample which now leaves everything up in the air.
Crews-Dezurn may have lost her titles and her hair on the night but she can at the very least get her titles back. Or at least, that’s what her promoters are currently working on.
“As Franchon’s promoter, we are incredibly disappointed for her as she worked incredibly hard to defend her titles,” said Crews-Dezurn’s promoter De La Hoya. “However, our job is to ensure the safety of our fighters both inside and outside of the ring. Thus, we have always insisted and supported testing through the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association for all of our world championship fights. Jimenez’s fight against Franchon Crews-Dezurn is no exception. Now our job is to find justice for Franchon by working closely with the WBC and the WBO in order to reinstate her as a world champion.”
At this point it isn’t just about reinstating Crews-Dezurn as champion but more so about what could the ramifications be for the transgressions of her opponent.
To the credit of Jimenez, she wasted absolutely no time trying to clear her name.
“Since 2019 I decided on my own to belong to the ‘Clean Boxing’ program of the WBC, because of the great respect I have for boxing and myself,” said Jimenez. “I have always been against the use of illegal substances. On December 15, 2019, VADA performed took the first urine and blood anti-doping samples, which turned out to be negative. On January 10 of this year, I was subjected to another urine anti-doping test, which was positive, a fact that surprised me since I have never used any illegal substance for my preparation. However, on January 11, I had another blood and urine test and it was negative again. I think there is an error in the test that tested positive, an error that affects my image and is detrimental to the example I want to give as an athlete. I will immediately request the analysis of the B-sample to prove the credibly that it has been a mistake.”
Jimenez of course will scream to the mountain tops of her innocence, yet if her B sample comes up negative as well, then it won’t matter how loud she screams, no one will believe her.
