Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) weighed 153.4 lbs for his title challenge of WBA Junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) in their 12-round headliner on Saturday. Madrimov weighed in at the limit at 154 pounds and looked in outstanding shape. The event will be shown live on DAZN PPV this Saturday, August 3rd at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
Crawford, 36, is seeking his fourth division world title after a year out of the ring, and he’s been installed as the betting favorite.
I don’t know how the oddsmakers could have made Crawford the favorite because Madrimov has an outstanding chance of winning this fight, which is more 50-50. Crawford is too old to be seen as a favorite in this fight.
There’s a lot of interest in the Crawford-Madrimov fight and the many fights on the Undercard, some of which are arguably more appealing to mainstream fans than the main event.
No one knows how Crawford will fare against Madrimov because it’s a new division, facing a younger fighter with more power, and he’s been largely inactive for the last four years. Crawford is an excellent fighter, but he’s been resting on his laurels for ages and may pay a heavy price for that.
Cruz vs. Valenzuela: A Potential Show-Stealer
The crowd favorite WBA light welterweight champion Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KOs) weighed in at 140 lbs for his maiden defense against Rayo Valenzuela (13-2, 9 KOs) in their twelve-round chief support bout on Saturday. Rayo weighed in at 139.8 lbs and looked in outstanding shape.
Cruz hopes to win and steal the show from the main event clash between Crawford and Madromov. With Pitbull Cruz’s fighting entertaining style, he’s got an excellent chance of grabbing the headlines from Crawford.
In other weights on the card, former unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. weighed in at a whopping 274.4 lbs for his fight against Jarrell Miller (26-1-1, 22 KOs). The recently beaten Miller weighed in at 305.6 lbs for their ten-round fight.
These two were supposed to be much lighter than in their previous fights, but it looks like they’ve been eating too well to trim down.
Ruiz’s weight is worrisome because it’s close to the 283 lbs he weighed in his loss to Anthony Joshua in December 2019. At that weight, Ruiz is too chunky to move around the ring. In his previous fight two years ago, he weighed 268 lbs for his fight against Luis Ortiz, and he didn’t look good.
Unbeaten heavyweight contender Jared Anderson (17-0, 15 KOs) weighed in at 252.4 pounds for his fight against Martin Bakole (20-1, 15 KOs). Fans see this fight match as a toss-up. Bakole weighed in at 284.4, which is heavy for him.
Morrell vs. Kalajhdzic and Cruz vs. Moran: Undercard Attractions
David Morrell (10-0, 9 KOs) came in at 174.8 lbs for his twelve round contest at
Radivoje Kalajhdzic. The WBA World light heavyweight title will be on the line for the fight. ‘Hod Rod’ Kalajhdzic (31-2, 21 KOs) weighed in at 174.4 lbs.
2020 Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz (3-0, 1 KO) came in at 134 lbs, while his opponent Antonio Moran weighed in at 134.8 lbs for their lightweight bout.
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