In a close affair, Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) captured his fourth division world title, dethroning WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs_ by a narrow 12-round unanimous decision on Saturday night in front of a sold-out BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
It was a fight that could have been scored as a draw, but the judges gave it to the superstar Crawford with scores of 116-112, 115-113, and 115-113. It was a defensive battle throughout, and the fight didn’t heat up until the 12th round.
The fans booed them constantly, starting in the fourth round due to the lack of action. They wanted to see an entertaining matchup for their hard-earned money. Instead, they saw two calculated, highly skilled counter-punchers, Crawford and Madrimov, waiting for the perfect moment to throw.
Madrimov’s Early Success
Madrimov appeared to win five of the first six rounds based on his cleaner, harder shots. In the second half, Crawford came on and appeared to edge a lot of the rounds with his aggression. They were close and nearly impossible to score.
Crawford wound up with a swollen right eye. For his part, Madrimov had a bruise under his left eye. Neither fighter was hurt or knocked down in the contest. Crawford’s 11-fight knockout streak ended tonight, and he wasn’t going to press his luck pushing for a KO against Madrimov after tasting his power early on. That’s why he was fighting cautiously. He didn’t want to get knocked out by ‘Little GGG.”
Madrimov was unhappy with the results, saying he felt he deserved the victory, and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, agreed with him. He saw it as a robbery and complained bitterly afterward.
You can’t blame either of them because it was a close match that could have gone either way.
Canelo on the Horizon?
It just so happens that the judges gave it to the more popular fighter Crawford, who has a potential fight against Canelo Alvarez next year if His Excellency Turki Alalashik can entice the Mexican star to agree.
Crawford’s performance tonight likely wasn’t enough to convince Canelo to fight him because he was too defensive and showed how he would fight him. Madrimov looked like a Canelo stand-in with his stocky build, powerful pot shots, and low work rate.
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