Israil Madrimov feels he deserved the win last Saturday against pound-for-pound star at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) lost his WBA junior middleweight title, thanks to the judging crew, who scored it for the popular fighter Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) by a twelve-round unanimous decision by the scores 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113.
Madrimov’s Impressive Performance
Madrimov felt he’d won the fight by 2 to 3 rounds and wasn’t happy to lose his WBA 154-lb title by a controversial decision to 36-year-old Crawford, who was mostly jabbed all night and missed many of his attempts at landing power shots.
After the fight, Madrimov said he wants a rematch with Crawford, but that doesn’t seem too realistic. Crawford wants a title shot against super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez in 2025, and it doesn’t matter that he’s coming off a questionable decision over Madrimov.
Terence wants the fight anyway, and so does His Excellency Turki Alalshikh. If Canelo chooses to refuse Crawford the fight, he’ll have to decide on a good plan B option, and he doesn’t have many good options due to his reluctance to fight Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.
“Before the fight, everyone was saying I was going to get eaten up, but I showed everything in the ring and on the level of the pound-for-pound king. I belong there,” said Israil Madrimov to Fight Hub TV, reflecting on his performance against Terence Crawford last Saturday night.
Crawford’s Power Questioned
Crawford didn’t have the power or youth to do to Madrimov what he’s done in the last two years of his career to Errol Spence, David Avanesyan, Shawn Porter, and Kell Brook. It doesn’t help that Crawford is fighting only once a year, and those fights took four years of his career.
He turns 37 in September, and age is starting to rear its ugly head with Crawford. he was awfully lucky to get the decision against Madrimov because it keeps alive his vision of fighting Canelo for a bit longer.
“That was our plan. We were working in the gym with sparring partners,” said Madrimov when asked if he was surprised that he could land his right hand on Crawford so frequently. “I was able to land a lot, but it seemed not enough for the judges.”
Crawford has always been vulnerable to being hit with right hands, but it wasn’t as big a deal because he wasn’t facing many big punchers. Spence and Brook were the only guys with power that Crawford had fought in years. They were both washed up by the time he fought them.
“I felt by two or three points because in the early rounds, I was on the front foot,” said Madrimov when asked how many rounds he felt he’d beaten Crawford. “Even in the rounds that weren’t as good, I was landing the better shots.”
Madrimov’s comments about believing he won by two or three rounds echo that of his promoter, Eddie Hearn, who felt he’d done enough to win that margin. Hearn felt like the judges gave Madrimov the business, and he was furious last night at seeing him lose in a fight that he should have won.
“I fought guys with more power, and you could definitely feel the power of the other guys at 154 pounds or in the amateurs. There were guys who hit real hard. I can’t say I got hit with anything really big [by Crawford]. It was mostly jabs. Power is not his main attribute,” said Madrimov about Terence’s power.
Crawford’s Career on Borrowed Time
Crawford’s power didn’t carry up to 154, and we knew that would happen to him sooner or later. Adrien Broner was a fighter with huge power when he fought at 130 and 135, but when he moved up to 147, he discovered he was below average. His career then went downhill.
We’re seeing the same thing with Crawford, but in his case, he was given a little more lease on his life with the trio of judges saving him from a loss this time. But it’s clear that Crawford’s career is on borrowed time, and he’ll start taking losses if he doesn’t retire soon.
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