Notebook: Anderson steps up vs. former titlist Martin in homecoming
Crews-Dezurn, Marshall launch verbal attacks ahead of showdown; BetUS show; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Heavyweight Jared Anderson, who is considered by many as the best up-and-coming big man in boxing, will notch a trio of notable firsts in his career when he squares off with former IBF titleholder Charles Martin.
The fight will be Anderson’s first main event, his first pro fight at home and his first match with a former titleholder when they meet in a 10-rounder that headlines the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on Saturday (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET with preliminaries on ESPN+ at 6:15 p.m. ET) at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio.
The homecoming aspect has Anderson especially pumped up.
“This is super special. I’m super excited,” Anderson said this week. “I’m the talk of the town. It’s a new feeling. I’m happy to be here. I’m happy to embrace it. I’m happy to be an inspiration for the kids.”
Anderson was a standout amateur, has drawn praise from heavyweight champion Tyson Fury for the great work Anderson has given him as a sparring partner in multiple training camps and has blown through every opponent he has faced inside six rounds even as Top Rank has steadily increased his competition in recent fights.
Last time out, Anderson blew away then-unbeaten George Arias in the third round in April and in December he shook off a big shot from fringe contender Jerry Forrest in the first round and crushed him in the second round.
Now Anderson (14-0, 14 KOs), 23, will face the most accomplished opponent of his career in Martin, an opponent Top Rank has been targeting for Anderson for months. The fight, however, is coming a little earlier than expected.
Anderson, the 2021 Fight Freaks Unite prospect of the year, was originally scheduled to face fellow knockout artist Zhan Kossobutskiy (19-0, 18 KOs), 34, a southpaw from Kazakhstan, who was due to make his American debut.
However, when Kossobutskiy was unable to obtain a visa to travel to the United States in time, Top Rank closed a deal two weeks ago for Martin, who is also a southpaw, to step in on short notice even though Martin (29-3-1, 26 KOs), 37, of Carson, California, was supposedly already training for another possible fight.
“I come prepared for anything and everything,” Anderson said of the opponent change. “Luckily, he is still a southpaw. I think that was the biggest reason that we chose him after the change. He’s also a bigger name. He is a former world champion. He has fought a few world titleholders as well.
“I’m prepared for everything. (The opponent change) didn’t throw a monkey wrench in the plan, but it definitely made us go back to the drawing board, look at the tapes, and come back with a plan.”
Martin held the IBF title for three months in 2016 after winning the vacant belt against Vyacheslav Glazkov, who was unable to continue during the third round due to a knee injury. Martin lost the belt in his first defense, getting knocked out by Anthony Joshua in the second round.
Martin is 6-2 since, losing a unanimous decision to then-rising contender Adam Kownacki in 2018 and getting stopped by Luis Ortiz in the sixth round in January 2022. Martin has won his only fight since, a fourth-round knockout of journeyman Devin Vargas in September.
Martin embraced the fight when it was offered.
“I was happy when I got the call,” Martin said. “I had been putting in a lot of work, so I was happy that the hard work was finally paying off. I’ve dedicated myself fully. I leave no stones unturned. You can’t do that in this game. I’m up for the challenge. He’s a big, strong, young lion. And I’m here.”
Martin noted that when he won an amateur national championship he did so in Toledo, so the trip has brought back good memories for him. Whether he will still have good memories of the city after the fight with enormous favorite Anderson remains to be seen.
For Anderson, he too is hoping for a sweet memory from the hometown bout.
“I came home because I wanted to bring a great event to my city,” Anderson said. “I’ve wanted to fight here ever since I turned pro, and the time is now. The atmosphere will be crazy, and I’m going to put on a show. It’s about getting the victory and moving on to the next one.”
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Crews-Dezurn, Marshall lash out
Undisputed women’s super middleweight champion Franchon Crews-Dezurn and Savannah Marshall, a former middleweight titlist, got awfully chippy with each other this week ahead of their fight that headlines the Boxxer card on Saturday (ESPN+ in U.S., Sky Sports in U.K., (2 p.m. ET) at AO Arena in Manchester, England.
Crews-Dezurn (8-1, 2 KOs), 35, of Baltimore, took shots at Marshall (12-1, 10 KOs), 32, of England, for losing her middleweight belt to Claressa Shields in their unification fight for the undisputed title in that division in October in London.
“I’m not like her,” Crews-Dezurn of Marshall, who is moving up in weight. “Unfortunately, she got a defeat because she underestimated (Shields). That's what happens when you think everything is going to be given to you.
“You let somebody come into your town, beat you, dog-walk you. You let somebody come and take something that was yours because you got complacent. That's you, not me.”
Marshall took exception and gave it right back to Crews-Dezurn, whose lone loss was also to Shields via four-round decision in both of their pro debuts in 2016.
“I didn't get complacent at all. You're nothing like Claressa, you won't dog-walk me at all,” Marshall said. “The reality of it is I don't have to say anything. I'm a better fighter than you.
“The difference between me and you is you sit about on your lazy ass waiting for opportunities. This was why you've boxed twice in two years.”
Crews-Dezurn boxed once in each of 2020, 2021 and 2022. In her last fight, in April 2022, she outpointed Elin Cederroos to unify the four belts to become undisputed 168-pound champion.
“How can you say I sit on my lazy ass and didn't create an opportunity when it took five minutes to introduce me because I do so many things and when you've got hustle personified here,” Crews-Dezurn shot back. “I self-manage myself. I made deals with Golden Boy and all these other promoters when you had other things handed to you.
"You had 10 years, 10 rounds to prepare (for Shields, whom Marshall beat in the amateurs) and couldn't even do it. You better kiss my feet and be happy I came to the ring to give you an opportunity.”
BetUS Boxing Show
If you missed the BetUS Boxing Show live at 1 p.m. ET on Friday on YouTube, please check out the replay (and also subscribe to the YouTube channel). We previewed and handicapped two notable fights that take place on Saturday: heavyweight Jared Anderson against former titlist Charles Martin and undisputed women’s super middleweight champion Franchon Crews-Dezurn’s defense against Savannah Marshall. We also took viewer questions and comments and discussed the latest boxing news! Please check out the show here:
Quick hits
Weights from Toledo, Ohio, for Saturday’s Top Rank/ESPN card: Jared Anderson 243.4 pounds, Charles Martin 250.5; Abdullah Mason 135.2, Alex de Oliveira 135.8; Arslanbek Makhmudov 263.4, Raphael Akpejiori 255.5; Tiger Johnson 141.2, Jonathan Montrel 140.6; Dante Benjamin Jr. 173.3, Mirady Zola 173.9; DeAndre Ware 167.9, Decarlo Perez 167.5; Husam Al Mashhadi 151.2, Rance Ward 153.6; Tyler McCreary 131, Deivi Julio 130.9; Jahi Tucker 151.8, Nicklaus Flaz 151.3.
Weights from Manchester, England for Saturday’s Boxxer card on Sky Sports/ESPN+: Franchon Crews-Dezurn 167 pounds, Savannah Marshall 167 (for Crews-Dezurn’s undisputed women’s super middleweight title); Natasha Jonas 146, Kandi Wyatt 146 (for vacant IBF women’s welterweight title); Ben Whittaker 174, Vladimir Belujsky 175; Callum Simpson 169, Boris Crighton 167; Zak Chelli 166, Mark Jeffers 167; April Hunter 153, Kirstie Bavington 149; Will Howe vs. TBA, 4 rounds, heavyweights; Will Howe 251; Jake Darnell 248.
Weights from Sheffield, England for Saturday’s Matchroom Boxing/DAZN card: Dalton Smith 139.4 pounds, Sam Maxwell 139.4 (Smith’s British and Maxwell’s Commonwealth junior welterweight titles); Pat McCormack 150.2, Tony Dixon 148.7; Hopey Price 125.5, James Beech Jr. 125.2; Junaid Bostan 155.4, Ryan Amos 155; Lewis Sylvester 134.3, Adam Cope 133.9; Beatriz Ferreira 132, Karla Ramos Zamora 130.4; Nico Leivars 123.1, Alberto Mora 121.1; Cory O'Regan 137.5, Jordan Ellison 138.8.
King’s Promotions and Showtime announced a “ShoBox: The New Generation” tripleheader for Aug. 4 (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET) at Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Headlining the card in a 10-round junior lightweight fight will be Jordan White (14-1, 10 KOs), 25, of Washington, D.C., against Dominican southpaw Eridson Garcia (17-0, 11 KOs), 29, of Houston. Philadelphia junior middleweight Paul Kroll (10-0-1, 6 KOs), 27, will face Guido Schramm (16-1-1, 9 KOs), 27, of Argentina, in the eight-round co-feature. In the all-Pennsylvania opener, Reading’s Julian Gonzalez (10-0-1, 9 KOs), 21, and Pittsburgh’s Johnny Spell (8-0, 4 KOs), 27, will meet in an eight-round junior lightweight bout.
Show and tell
We are halfway through 2023 and it’s shaping up as a banner year for boxing, at least outside the inactive and disappointing heavyweight division. There have been several fight of the year candidates and several significant fights that have either already happened or on tap. The first half of the year saw fights such Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney-Vasiliy Lomachenko, David Benavidez-Caleb Plant and Teofimo Lopez-Josh Taylor. There are several others on the way, including the long-awaited Errol Spence Jr.-Terence Crawford showdown (the most significant fight of the year), Canelo Alvarez-Jermell Charlo, Stephen Fulton-Naoya Inoue and Emanuel Navarrete-Oscar Valdez.
Here are two tickets in my collection from two of the biggest fights of the first half of the year, one from Davis’ knockout of Garcia in their blockbuster Showtime PPV event from April 22 and one from Haney’s undisputed lightweight title defense against Lomachenko on May 20.
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Photos: Anderson-Martin: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Crews-Dezurn-Marshall: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer; Smith-Maxwell: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
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