Maira Moneo (left) unloads a hook on Lizbeth Crespo in Buenos Aires
The final weeks of the year brought some action on the women’s boxing front, although not as much as one would expect given the increase in activity seen this year overall.
In one of the most intriguing fights in the heaviest division of women’s boxing (The Ring does not classify fighters above 168 pounds due to the lack of regular activity and the small number of fighters in those divisions fighting with any type of continuity ), former Ring champion Franchon Crews-Dezurn returned to victory with a dominant victory over previously undefeated Shadasia Green to lift a super middleweight belt and reclaim the lofty position she once held before being defeated by Savannah Marshall in July.
The result was a slight surprise to only a few, and our panelist Lupi Gutiérrez-Beagle was not one of them.
“If you know or follow the amateur history between Franchon and Shadasia, adding what you know at the professional level, your money would have been on Franchon all day,” said the co-owner of Beautiful Brawlers. “The champion is back to number one.”
The detractors did not mind admitting their mistake.
“I must confess that I didn’t think she would be the one to win,” author Irene Deserti said of Crews-Dezurn’s chances. “I was betting that Green was really superior, but Franchon shut me up, because she really was the fair winner and dominated most of the rounds with authority.”
Historian Malissa Smith replied that “(Franchon’s) poise, discipline and astonishing striking left no doubt that she is a champion, and then writer Christopher Benedict ended the debate by saying: “Crews-Dezurn made her critics eat.” Ravens and Shadasia Green ate leather in a rebound victory that many did not see coming.”
In the lightweight division, Uruguayan fighter Maira Moneo fought Bolivia’s Lizbeth Crespo in Argentina to argue for a higher rating, and the panel listened.
Moneo’s awkward fighting style doesn’t help him gain new fans, but the results are there and that demands respect.
“Say what you want about Moneo, she keeps winning and that’s the name of the game,” said Gutiérrez-Beagle, while Deserti added that “I’m not a fan of her either and I’m far from it, but I must admit that I also observed certain improvements. in his boxing skills. Her attacks continue to be too passionate and unrestrained and she loses her line and her defense. But I think she has improved and, based on her results, she deserves to move up a level.”
Then she felt moved one step higher and now she is the new number 2 in The Ring’s pioneering female ratings.
Diego M. Morilla has written for The Ring since 2013. He has also written for HBO.com, ESPN.com and many other magazines, websites, newspapers and outlets since 1993. He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and an elector for the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He has won two first place awards in the BWAA’s annual writing contest and is the moderator of The Ring’s women’s ratings panel. He served as a copy editor for the second generation of The Ring en Español (2018-2020) and is currently a writer and editor for RingTV.com.
Follow @MorillaBoxing
