Women’s super middleweight titleholder Franchon Crews-Dezurn will enter the ring against Citlalli Ortiz on Friday with roughly double the experience and a 5ins reach advantage over her opponent.
Crews-Dezurn will face Ortiz at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York, as part of the undercard stream on DAZN taking place during International Boxing Hall of Fame weekend.
The 5ft 3ins Ortiz will be the shortest fighter Crews-Dezurn, 9-2 (2 KOs), has fought in her professional career. Listed at 5ft 8ins herself, Crews-Dezurn has never fought a pro opponent shorter than 5ft 7ins. But fighting smaller opposition isn’t a big change for her, she says.
“My husband, who's a contender and a pro fighter himself, he's 5ft 5ins,” Crews-Dezurn, who is married to bantamweight Glenn Dezurn, told BoxingScene. “I accommodate. I got somebody who was her height and matched her style, and I did what I had to do.”
Crews-Dezurn also points to her amateur pedigree, which she says has done plenty to prepare her for this moment.
“I fought all over the world,” she said. “I have an extensive amateur background. I fought all types of people, so it's not an issue to me.”
Crews-Dezurn, a 37-year-old from Baltimore, has had multiple title reigns at super middleweight. Trained by Barry Hunter, she is coming off a 17-month layoff after defeating Shadasia Green for the vacant WBC super middleweight title. Crews-Dezurn stayed in the gym waiting for an opportunity and in April signed with Salita Promotions.
“I'm the one who creates the motion,” Crews-Dezurn said. “These are the cards I am dealt. So I'm just playing my hand, and I'm here now.”
Crews-Dezurn notes that Ortiz, no matter her size, is a credible opponent who represented Mexico at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. She referenced a previous exchange she had with Ortiz earlier during fight week.
“I expressed when I was on stage, and I told her, she's going to learn from this, and I hope in 10 years she does the same thing and creates an opportunity for somebody else,” Crews-Dezurn said. “It's not a situation like I'm an old guard passing the torch. It's still belt to ass for this fight.”
Ortiz, 4-1 (1 KO), turned professional before her Olympic bid in 2021. Due to Mexico’s Olympic qualifying standards, she was able to compete at the Games. Ortiz – a 25-year-old originally from Coachella, California, but who now resides in Mexicali – is in a familiar spot, fighting a taller fighter.
“I'm already used to fighting tall fighters,” Ortiz told BoxingScene. “I have fought taller fighters than Franchon, so she's the perfect height.”
Ortiz enters this fight surrounded by questions. Her last professional fight was in 2023 when she defeated Jordanne Garcia via a unanimous decision in a six-round bout. Earlier that year, she lost a rematch to Diana Tapia Castro in an eight-round bout via split decision. Ortiz has never gone 10 rounds as a professional, and last year she competed exclusively in amateur boxing. She lost in the first round of the 2024 Olympics to Australia’s Caitlin Parker.
Ortiz noted that the adjustment back to professional boxing has been the biggest hurdle.
“I feel like that was the greatest challenge during camp, just slowing things down a bit and sitting on my punches more,” Ortiz said. “I feel my amateur background helps a lot during fights. Also, it's still two-minute rounds. I'm used to fighting three-minute rounds, so time does go by quicker.”
Crews-Dezurn has gone 88 rounds as a professional compared to Ortiz, who has gone 30. When asked why she took the fight so early in her career, Ortiz – known for her power in the amateurs – answered in a way that embodies the modern spirit of women’s boxing: She wants to take a risk.
“I feel like taking risks helps female boxing in general,” Ortiz said. “Sometimes the opportunities that one expects aren't there, and when it does come around, you can't waste that opportunity.”
Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.
