Promoter Eddie Hearn believes Terence Crawford could be in for a big shock at the power, size, and mobility of WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on August 3rd in their headliner on a Riyadh Season event in Los Angeles.
The fight will mark the debut for Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) at 154, and there’s no way of knowing how well he’ll fight in this weight class against a fighter of Madrimov’s level.
Although Crawford won eight fights at 147, his opposition was below par, and he moved up to 154 without having fought anyone talented in many years, perhaps dating back to his match against Viktor Postol in July 2016.
The guys that Crawford fought at 147 were old and washed-up hasbeens. That’s why it would have been better if Crawford got his feet wet first at 154 against one of the talented contenders like Erickson Lubin before facing Madrimov.
If Crawford loses this fight to Madrimov, there will be much second-guessing his decision to plunge straight into a risky fight again, underestimating his opposition, taking the fight after a 1+ year layoff, and not having fought a quality opponent in eight years since 2016.
Crawford is a textbook example of a person heading for trouble. However, one positive that can come out of the 36-year-old ‘Bud’ Crawford’s impetuous decision to fight the dangerous WBA 154-lb champion Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) is that he’ll have an excuse to give to the fans afterward if it blows up in his face.
Crawford can blame it on not getting experience first and then add that he was coming off a 13-month layoff. Those two excuses will give Crawford cover, and His Excellency can potentially still give him the Canelo Alvarez fight.
It looks terrible in terms of sporting-wise if Crawford is given the title shot against Canelo at 168 coming off a loss to Madrimov, but it’s thie entertainment business. Crawford would still be better known to the casual boxing fans than Madrimov and would be reason enough for him to be given the golden ticket rather than his conqueror.
“Crawford is obviously the favorite in that fight, but Madrimov is very good. You’re talking about a strong Eastern European [fighter],” said Eddie Hearn to YSM Sports Media, discussing what Terence Crawford will be up against fighting WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on August 3rd.
Being the favorite is meaningless because the oddsmakers are often guys who mostly follow other sports, and their boxing knowledge is superficial. They know a little, so you kind of have to ignore oddsmakers, and think or yourself.
Crawford is coming off a long layoff, and the sparring that he’s getting from a chubby-looking 40-year-old Andre Ward is a waste of time in helping him get ready for Madrimov. With the money Crawford made in his last fight a year ago against Errol Spence, he can afford to hire Eastern European fighters to train for the Madrimov fight.
You don’t use an out-of-shape American fighter, Andre Ward, to help prepare for Madrimov. That sounds like Crawford is overconfident and feels he can just half-step his way through training to prepare.
“Madrimov is a really strong Eastern European fighter with great movement, with great ring IQ and with a tremendous engine,” Hearn said. “He was an outstanding amateur as well. So, for me, I’m looking at it and saying this is a banana skin for Terence Crawford.
You can see the power in Madrimov’s punches from his sparring. It’s like watching a smaller Gennadiy Golovkin but with more mobility, launching huge bombs from odd angles and dangerous at all times. Madrimov hits really hard, and this fight could end early if Crawford can’t stand up to the big shots he will be getting hit with on August 3rd.
“He’s the favorite in the fight and moving up to 154. How do you like the power? How do you like the size difference?” said Hearn.
This is going to be 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗖 👊#RiyadhSeasonCard 🎟 https://t.co/0ehTpvj9dS#CrawfordVsMadrimov | August 3 | Live on https://t.co/FoiaUucI53 | @Turki_alalshikh pic.twitter.com/rj08sfJNXw
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) July 17, 2024
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