Terence Crawford’s coach, Bernie ‘Tha Boxer’ Davies, insists his fighter has grown into the 154-lb division and will be ready to defeat the “toughest” fighter at junior middleweight, WBA champion Israil Madrimov, on August 3rd in their fight at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
Crawford has never fought at 154, so you can’t know for sure if he’s grown into the division. We know he’s chasing money, looking to continue to make the same green that he got in his last fight at welterweight against Errol Spence.
To avoid taking a big payday and potentially getting beaten at welterweight by Boots Ennis, Crawford is moving up to 154. He is drunk on success and believes he can do the same in this division that he did at 147, 140, and 135. It could end badly for Crawford.
Analyzing Madrimov’s Style
“From his last camp, he’s grown into a true junior middleweight, and I think he can handle himself,” said Bernie Tha Boxer Davies to Fighthype, talking about Terence Crawford having put on size ahead of his August 3rd fight against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov.
Crawford still looks like a welterweight, and you can’t call him a junior middleweight without him fighting in the division. We don’t know how Crawford is going to do at 154 because he’s about to turn 37 in September, been out of the ring for an entire year, fighting annually [once a year] since 2020, and he’s never fought at junior middleweight.
“We know Madrimov brings a lot to the table with his athletic ability, firepower, footwork, and awkward style. We’re going to map him out, break him down, and figure it out,” said Davies.
We don’t know what Crawford is going to do against Madrimov. Terence is coming off a long layoff to fight a younger fighter at 29 with more power than anyone he’s ever fought, and on the wrong side of 30. That ain’t good for Crawford.
Crawford’s Adaptability
“I would say ‘Mean Machine,’ but this guy has more speed, he’s agile on his feet, and he got big firepower,” said Bernie when asked if Madrimov reminds him of any of the current fighters. “Bud fought them all. There’s no style he hasn’t seen.”
The truth is, Crawford hasn’t fought the best in any division he’s fought in, and there are a lot of styles he hasn’t seen. His experience at welterweight is limited to these fighters:
– Errol Spence Jr: Post-car crash and weight drained
– Shawn Porter: Old
– Jeff Horn
– David Avanesyan
– Kell Brook: Post-Golovkin loss
– Amir Khan
– Egidijus Kavaliauskas
– Jose Benavidez Jr
When Crawford had the chance to fight an elite welterweight in Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, he moved up to 154 rather than fighting him.
“It’s just getting ready and staying ready and executing a game plan. Bud is the best. He can turn on a dime and fight on the fly. It’s just getting in proper condition and keep honing his skill.
“We moved up to 147 and fought one of the biggest welterweights around, Jeff Horn, coming off a [controversial] career-best win over Manny Pacquiao, and we dominated him. Bud, he don’t duck nothing. He wants the best.
“We wanted Tim Tszyu and Sebastian Fundora, but we got the toughest junior middleweight. We still got the toughest guy in the junior middleweight division. That’s just the Bud Crawford way. He’s got the skills, he’s got the experience, and he’s got the size.
“He’s truly a junior middleweight. He’s not undersized. I would say he’s a true junior middleweight,” said Bernie about Crawford. “That fellow [Madrimov] might be towards a middleweight. We want the champion. We’re here to collect undisputed and get out of there.”
Crawford IS undersized for the junior middleweight division, and you’ll know that when he gets in with Madrimov and some of the other fighters in that weight class. He’s small for the division, but is moving up chasing paydays.
If the 147-lb division was stacked with popular fighters, Crawford could make boatloads of money fighting for the next two or three years; he wouldn’t be moving up. But he’s chasing paydays at 154 and 168. The only reason Crawford isn’t stopping at 160 is because there aren’t any popular fighters in that division.
When an older fighter is money-hungry and moves up in weight, they get into trouble sooner or later. Their hunger for money ends up bitting them in the backside and they get beaten. I suspect that will happen to Crawford, likely on August 3rd, when he faces Madrimov.
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