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By: Hans Themistode
The unpredictability of boxing was on full display on Saturday, January 11th, at the Alamodome in San Antonio Texas, as former Super Middleweight champion Franchon Crews Dezurn lost her WBC and WBO world titles at the hands of Alejandra Jimenez.
In the sport of boxing, a storyline always exists. For Dezurn, it was simple. Defeat Alejandra Jimenez, than take on fellow unified champion Elin Cederroos. From there, Dezurn would be the undisputed champion and set up a highly anticipated rematch against Claressa Shields.
Now, none of those aforementioned chain of events will take place. At least not now.
During an interview that took place on Boxing Insider Radio which airs every Tuesday and is available on iTunes, Spotify and on BoxingInsider.com, Franchon Crews Dezurn opens up about her loss and her new found beef with rapper Snoop Dogg.
The loss to Jimenez wasn’t the first in the career of Dezurn, but it was the most puzzling. During the contest, Dezurn threw the entire kitchen sink at her opponent. She landed the sort of shots that could have put down anyone in the division. Jimenez on the other hand, simply walked through them seemingly unfazed.
“It was different,” said Dezurn on Boxing Insider Radio. “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.”
It wasn’t just the contest that seemed to be a bit out of the ordinary but so was the entire matchup. At one point, Jimenez campaigned at the Heavyweight division. In just a short amount of time, she managed to shed a ton of weight to make the Super Middleweights 168 pound limit. Even more recently, following her win, Jimenez has dropped in weight yet again. This time with an eye on Claressa Shields. With Jimenez seemingly able to move down in weight without much issue, Dezurn wants to find out how.
“I wouldn’t have agreed to fight unless VADA was involved. I was tested four times from the time the fight was announced up until after the fight so I assume she was tested as well. I’m actually waiting for my attorney to get me the results of her tests. She never weighed 154 in her whole career, the lightest she ever weighed was 176 and she came in under me so it’s just weird. Whatever they did, they need to sell it in the store. Wrap that shit up and sell it in the store.”
Dezurn isn’t only pointing a suspicious finger in the direction of her opponent, but also at her promoter as well.
“Her promoter is very powerful that’s all I can say. He hosted the WBC 57th convention that we went to last year, so it is what it is.”
The story of the night should have been focused on the contest between the two women. Regardless of the outcome, they produced an early fight of the year contender. Yet, the fight in itself was not the main storyline.
During the latter half of the fight, Dazurn suffered a malfunction if you will. The weave that she was wearing throughout the bout began to fall from her head. Her corner did their best to fix the issue but when they came to the conclusion that it was becoming a deterrent, they got it removed from her head entirely. Men might not understand the big issue, but for women, their weave means everything. For Dezurn, she could have kept it, but instead, she chose to focus on keeping her titles around her waist.
“I just want people to know that when that happened that was a moment of me coming out because I had to make a choice of whether I was going to do my hair or do some type of fake thing or was I going to fight for something that was real like my legacy and belt. My coach and husband pulled me through and I felt amazing honestly. Like I’m actually natural now, I went and got my hair done like fuck it I went and got my hair done.”
In a moment that many would have considered embarrassing, Dezurn has since turned it into a great opportunity. The former champion has gone on to create shirts that read “#FXCKTHATHAIR I Want The Belts” on her Instagram page. It has become a moment that she can look back and laugh at while also profiting from.
Although it was all fun and games, one moment that Dezurn did not find amusing in the slightest is when rapper Snoop Dogg went on his Instagram page to post a video of Dezurn getting her wig placed back on her head. The video in itself isn’t the issue, but the caption in which accompanied it was. “Beat the wig off dat hoe” said Snoop Dogg on his Instagram page. It may have been nothing but a harmless joke to Snoop Dogg, but Dezurn did not find it amusing in the slightest.
“This is why women and black girls are scared to be themselves because you’re not boosting their confidence. Whether I have on a wig on or not I’m out here risking my life and I’m doing good.”
While Dezurn was disappointed in Snoop Dogg’s choice of words, she is a fighter and wants her chance to prove to Snoop Dogg that whether she wears a wig or not, that she will beat him down if they ever fought in the ring.
“I posted on my page a video of him boxing and he was looking a little hoeish. Oscar De La Hoya got on my page and said he would promote a fight between us at the MGM in Vegas, so I said hey make that shit happen. He can get this work.”
A matchup between Snoop Dogg and Dezurn would be entertaining but it is highly unlikely. A contest that isn’t out of the realm of possibility, however, is a rematch with Shields. First things first, she needs to rebuild herself from the ground up.
“Shields has done so many amazing things and anybody that faces her it is a great opportunity. My goal is to continue to building my name so that when we do get on the same page to fight it’s going to be worth it. We’re going to break the bank with this one. I’ll be back, this is just a small setback.”
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