Carry a Tune, Pack a Punch

BALTIMORE

The large storefront windows open onto a slice of Eutaw Street that has seen its share of dramatic transformations. Brightly colored buildings that have doubled in value in recent years stand covered in fresh coats of paint. Other buildings nearby await their turn, their boarded windows displaying "for sale" signs.

On a sunny downtown afternoon, a shopkeeper in one of the newly painted buildings pulls out a black and white photograph of a long-haired, bright-eyed young woman who looks more like the American Idol she hopes to be than the American Pugilist she is.

Milroy Harried, who owns the M Salon and Spa, speaks like a proud father as he points to the image of Franchon Crews -- champion boxer, talented singer and proof that sometimes the answer isn't found by adding a fresh coat of paint, but by stripping down the layers to expose what's underneath.

"This girl did a complete 180," said Harried, a close friend of Crews.

Over the past two years, Crews helped her mother battle back from a near-death health condition and tried out for "American Idol," where her voice was heard by 34 million viewers. None of it would have been possible without boxing.

Since taking on the sport three years ago, Crews -- a 5-foot-7, 165-pound middleweight -- has developed into one of the country's top female amateur fighters, racking up a 21-2 record. A powerful puncher, Crews is the reigning two-time middleweight national champion and last year came within one victory of a world championship. On Saturday, she successfully defended her Golden Gloves national championship in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. She'll compete at the world championships again in November in India.

Crews's coach, Marvin McDowell, calls her a natural with a chance to make the U.S. Olympic team if women's boxing is sanctioned for the 2012 Games.

"What she has accomplished in such a little amount of time is amazing," McDowell said.

But even more important, the boxing ring was where Crews was finally able to peel away all the things that had masked her talent for so long.

"She's come to see herself as a young adult," said her mother, Sarah Crews. "She has goals and she wants to achieve those. She realized she doesn't have to follow anybody else."

'A Little Thug Girl'

Franchon Crews, who turned 19 last month, was born in Norfolk and grew up in the suburbs, mostly in Virginia Beach. She had three half-brothers, but her parents separated when she was eight, later divorcing. She and her mother lived a comfortable life until things began unraveling in 2001 when Sarah's employer went out of business. Within weeks, mother and daughter lived in a motel.