The undercard for the Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov event on August 3rd on ESPN+ PPV at the BMO Stadium in Las Vegas might be the best part of the event.
While the main event between Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) and WBA junior middleweight champion Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) is good, the undercard is drawing the most praise from the boxing public.
The would take about Crawford moving up from 147 to challenge Madrimov for a fourth division world title. Still, it’s believed this is a stepping stone for the Nebraska native for a lucrative fight against undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez in early 2025.
Isaac Cruz vs. Jose Valenzuela
Fans want to see Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz defend his WBA light welterweight title against the knockout artist Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela (13-2, 9 KOs), and that’s the one that many are talking about. The fight is seen as a 50-50 in the eyes of fans, and it’s going to be interesting to see how these two handle the firepower of the other.
Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KOs) dethroned WBA 140-lb champion Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero by an eighth-round knockout on March 30th and looked exceptional in that blowout.
Jared Anderson vs. Martin Bakole
Top Rank will quickly find out what they got in heavyweight Jared Anderson (17-0, 15 KOs) in his fight against Martin Bakole (20-1, 15 KOs) because he will be under some severe duress in this match.
If Anderson can’t keep Bakole off him, he’s going to get knocked out in this fight. He doesn’t have the firepower or the toughness to go to war with Bakole, and his attitude about not wanting to get hit will keep him from trading.
Anderson is going to have to abandon that Shakur Stevenson style that he’s adopted from his close friend because it will put the fans to sleep and will not help him against Bakole.
Top Rank has slowly been building the 24-year-old Anderson, not wanting to rush his development because they know the top heavyweights, Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, are old. They don’t have much time left, so Anderson could slide in and grab the vacant belts by default.
Other fights on the card:
- Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Jarrell Miller: Former unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. (35-2, 22 KOs) returns from a two-year layoff to face Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller (26-1-1, 22 KOs) in a toss-up. Ruiz was recruited for this undercard, and it’ll be interesting to see what kind of physical condition he’ll be in after sitting on the sidelines for an extended period.
- David Morrell vs. Radivoje Kalajdzic: Morrell (10-0, 9 KOs) is moving up from super middleweight to battle Kalajdzic for the vacant WBA light heavyweight title and to put himself in position to fight for the undisputed championship.
- Andy Cruz vs. Antonio Moran: 2020 Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz (3-0, 1 KO) fights Antonio Moran (30-6-1, 21 KOs),
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