Terence Crawford says he feels strong at 154 ahead of his fight against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on Saturday live on DAZN.
(Credit: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing)
Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) is moving up seven pounds from 147 to 154, looking to dethrone the unbeaten Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) in his first fight in the division, and then potentially move up again.
Madrimov will have something to say about whether Crawford moves forward with his career on Saturday night. He plans on giving the newcomer a rude welcome by beating him and altering his vision of using their fight as a launching pad for a clash against Canelo Alvarez at 168.
Crawford says he’s not overlooking Madrimov, but throughout the promotion of their fight, he’s made it known that he wants Canelo next. No matter how Crawford wants to spin that, that’s a signal that he’s looking past Madrimov and viewing him as a stepping stone.
Comparisons to Jeff Horn
Some believe that Madrimov is identical to Jeff Horn, a fighter Crawford knocked out in the ninth round in June 2018. Horn is much faster than Madrimov but lacks his power.
Crawford had more speed back then, and he’s slowed down a lot in the last six years. He’s still fast, but not like when he fought Horn six years ago.
Madrimov may have problems with Crawford if he fails to hurt him with his shots because he can’t match his speed and combination punching. Crawford was stronger than Horn and muscled him with his wrestling in the clinch.
It might be difficult for him to do that against Madrimov because he is more powerful than Horn was then.
“I feel great, I feel strong, and I feel motivated. I’m just ready to go out here and do my thing,” said Terence Crawford to Fight Hub TV, discussing his fight against Israil Madrimov on Saturday night.
Crawford looked near weight today and showed no signs of being drained. It should be interesting to see if he can retain his speed from 147 for this fight.
“I wasn’t heated. Eddie was just throwing rocks and just saying anything that comes to his mind,” said Crawford about Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn getting him agitated during his meeting on Monday at the BMO Stadium with Madrimov present.
“He’s a great fighter. He’s tough, he’s hungry, he’s durable, and he’s athletic,” said Crawford about Madrimov. He’s got a lot of experience in the amateur rankings, but as you can see, he’s a champion with only 11 fights, and that tells you a lot about his skills right now.
If Crawford can handle Madrimov’s power, he should win this fight handily. If he wants the Canelo fight, a knockout would be his best bet. It’s not a good idea for Crawford to box and play it safe against Madrimov because Canelo will not want to fight someone who will give him flashbacks to his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. a decade ago.
“I’m only worried about one person, and that’s Israil. I’m not overlooking this guy. It’s a tough opponent. It’s going to be tough come Saturday. I’m not overlooking anybody right now or worried about anybody,” said Crawford.
Terence was asked about his thoughts on Errol Spence potentially retiring. He hasn’t fought in a year since his loss to Crawford, and fans have speculated that he could hang up his gloves.
“We know he’s capable of a lot of things, but we’re not going to overlook anything, and that’s why we prepare the way we prepare and focus on him the way we focused on,” said Crawford about Madrimov.
For Madrimov to have a chance of winning, he can’t miss with his shots like he did in his last couple of fights. He wings shots, many of which are short of the mark, leaving him open to being countered. Madrimov got away with this against Magomed Kurbanov and Raphael Igbokwe because they lacked the skills to make him pay.
“I’ve always sparred bigger guys. I’ve never sparred with guys my size. So, that’s nothing. Nope,” said Crawford on whether fighting at super middleweight would be a problem for him.
Crawford should be fine with being the smaller guy against Madrimov because he’s facing a slow fighter that can’t give him problems with his size the way a quicker fighter would. If Crawford were to move up to 175 and take on Dmitry Bivol or David Benavidez, he’d have problems
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