'Heavy Hitting Diva' Lives & Trains In Baltimore
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- We celebrate a lot of athletes around here but did you know one of the world's top female boxers lives and trains in Baltimore?
Denise Koch has more on Franchon Crews.
Crews trains every single day at the Under Armour Gym. (Under Armour is the sponsor of US Boxing.) She also holds down three jobs, goes to school and takes care of her mother.
Franchon was a student at Frederick Douglass High, dreaming of being a singer when she was told boxing would help her lose weight. In 2005 at 17, she went to her first tournament---and won. Since then, she's won eight US Open titles, five Pan Am titles, four national Golden Gloves and she's a silver medalist.
"It's my life. I love boxing. I enjoy everything about it. Even when I fuss about making weight or having to run four miles...I mean, it's my life," Crews said.
Franchon met her husband, Glen Dezurn---who she calls "Short Man"---at the gym. He is her trainer and sparring partner. They are a team.
"When we're in the gym, it's just like our marriage. We run on love and faith and believe in each other. It's like when she's in a fight, she has to be 100% sure I'm for her," Dezurn said.
A group of students touring the gym got the word from the "Heavy Hitting Diva."
"Stay in school. I just started college. I'm 28, so stay in school," she said. "You can be strong and beautiful. Being strong is beautiful."
As a woman boxer, she doesn't feel she has a lot to prove.
"Actually, women are a force to be reckoened with. Women were the only ones to medal in 2012. Women show the most consistency. Women fight a lot harder than men," she said. "We do belong."
Franchon says while she still enjoys boxing, she is now training to be a bobsledder.
