Savannah Marshall claims majority decision victory over Franchon Crews-Dezurn to claim undisputed super middleweight title

Marshall bounced back from an agonising loss to Claressa Shields last time out to again establish herself atop of women’s boxing with a majority decision victory at the AO Arena.

Marshall went the distance for a second straight fight but would this time come out on top of the judges’ scorecards (95-95, 99-92, 97-93) after a rugged contest.

The Hartlepool star knew the importance of her showdown with the American coming off the back of that loss to Shields, with the 32-year-old even hinting this could have been the last time we would see her in the ring were she to fall to back-to-back defeats.

The event itself had been billed as ‘All Or Nothing’ by Boxxer and there was an element of that when Marshall made her way to the ring as the challenger in front of a raucous Manchester crowd who were heavily supporting the North East fighter.

“What business have I got in the sport if I can’t hang with these girls,” Marshall had said in the build up to her headline event.

Instead, a beaming Marshall was lost for words after being declared the winner before once again turning her focus towards the watching Shields, who was ringside.

"I can’t describe how I feel,” Marshall said after the fight.

"It was even harder than I thought it would be. She is a tough, tough woman.

"[The fight with Shields] is there if she wants it.”

Marshall was greeted by the Heavy Hitting Diva who showcased one of her many talents when singing the American national anthem herself upon her arrival to the ring, as a steely eyed Marshall looked on.

Despite a fine performance on the microphone, the super middleweight from Baltimore was here to get down to business.

Marshall had anticipated a physical battle and that is what she got as, despite suggestions she would be better off maintaining her distance to Crews-Dezurn, she met the champion head on.

And that physical battle was on show from the get-go as the two tangled, almost ending up on the floor – something which would be a theme throughout the contest.

Marshall did land a big over head right hand before Crews-Dezurn fired back as a cagey opening round came to a close.

Crews-Dezurn, perhaps, edged the opening stages of the fight but neither was really able to establish themselves.

Marshall started the third round brighter as we saw the first glimpses of her working the jab but the champion was still able to find a way through before both fighters would hit the canvas after tangling in the centre of the ring.

Despite another scrappy round, Marshall was able to land a stinging left hand on the bell as she moved into the ascendancy in round four before landing a huge right which rocked Crews-Dezurn.

The American looked a little fatigued when heading back to her corner as Marshall’s work from range began to show through as expected.

Crews-Dezurn was sent to the floor in the fifth after Marshall had landed a number of clean shots but it was not given as a knockdown.

Marshall continued to press with Crews-Dezurn visibly on the back foot as the Manchester crowd sensed a potential stoppage.

Crews-Dezurn would make it to the bell, however, but there was little resistance in the sixth as Marshall continued to find a way through the guard.

The champion did manage to climb back into the fight in round seven when tagging Marshall – who herself was forced to step back.

Marshall landed a crisp combination in the eighth before switching to the body in the closing rounds.

Crews-Dezurn turned things into a scrap late on as she looked to even up the scorecards – something she managed to do with one of the judges but, ultimately, it was Marshall who had been landing the cleaner shots throughout the fight as she cemented a historical night to become undisputed champion of the world.

Elsewhere on the card, North Shields’ April Hunter kicked off the night with a narrow victory over Kirstie Bavington after a close fought eight rounds to avenge her defeat to the Wolverhampton fighter two years ago.

Hunter landed a huge right hand in the seventh round which dropped Bavington to a knee and may have proved decisive as she scored a 76-75 victory on the scorecards.

Yorkshire’s Callum Simpson claimed a unanimous decision victory over Boris Crighton in a hard-hitting super middleweight bout.

Simpson had plenty of support from Barnsley and seemed keen to make an impression off the back of that.

Crighton wobbled in the seventh but was able to remain competitive enough to take Simpson the distance as the Yorkshirman secured a unanimous decision success to maintain his unbeaten record.

Mark Jeffers sent the AO Arena into raptures when upsetting Zak Chelli for the Commonwealth Silver title.

The Chorley fighter brought an army of support with him to Manchester after stepping in to replace Mark Heffron at short notice and impressed from the off with Chelli unable to find any answers over the course of the 10 rounds.

The unbeaten Jeffers was game from the off and established control before landing notable shots in the third and fourth with Chelli left wilted following a strong shot to the body.

Jeffers continued to press forward as the third fight of the night went to the scorecards with the man from Chorley earning a unanimous decision win.

Liverpool’s Natasha Jonas was looking to become a multiple weight champion when she met Kandi Wyatt for the vacant IFB welterweight title.

And the 39-year-old, who unified titles at super-welterweight, provided the first stoppage of the night when the referee waved things off in the eighth round following a heavily one-sided contest.

Wyatt arrived off the back of three consecutive losses, including last time out against Jessica McCaskill, and never looked like threatening Jonas, who almost ended things within seconds with a blistering start.

Jonas would pick her way through the next couple of rounds at ease as she bloodied the Canadian’s nose before the fight was finally waved off in the eighth with very little coming back to trouble Jonas who became a multi-weight world champion by adding to her WBC, WBO and IBF super welterweight belts.

Jonas’ stoppage victory was followed by Olympic silver medallist Ben Whittaker who cruised to victory over Vladimir Beljusk in their light heavyweight bout.

Whittaker quickly established himself as the more dominant of the two fighters and was even able to play up to the Manchester crowd by showboating his way through the fight before a final round stoppage over the Irishman.

There was Hartlepool interest on the fight scene elsewhere on Saturday as Adam Cope competed for the vacant English lightweight title against Lewis Sylvester in Sheffield with Cope unfortunately edged out on the scorecards whilst Hartlepool United Women’s Zara Johnson extended her early professional career to 2-0.

But after her heartbreaking loss to Shields back in October, this time the night, and the decision, went Marshall’s way as she came and took it all from Manchester to become undisputed champion of the world.