WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov’s trainer, Joel Diaz, says challenger Terence Crawford will feel his power when he connects with his shots on August 3rd when they meet in a Riyadh Season event, live on DAZN and ESPN PPV at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
Diaz feels that it’s a mistake for people to be planning on Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) to face Canelo Alvarez next because Madimir (10-0-1, 7 KOs) isn’t an average fighter that he’s facing 12 days from now on August 3rd.
Many boxing fans aren’t familiar with Madrimov, never having seen him before. They’ve seen the 36-year-old Crawford many times during his long 16-year career because his fights have been shown on ESPN.
He’s the known commodity, so people go with who they’re familiar with and view Madrimov, the unknown, as the prop for Crawford to knock over.
When fans get used to seeing their favorite win, they assume they’ll always be victorious, regardless of their weight class or opponent. Crawford has reached a point where he’s hit the ceiling for what he can at 36, and Madrimov will expose his age and limitations.
“Now in front of him, he has a younger fighter, strong fighter and very disciplined,” said trainer Joel Diaz to the SnowqueenLA Youtube channel, talking about Israil Madrimov ahead of his fight against Terence Crawford on August 3rd.
Crawford has become reckless, wanting and needing the Canelo Alvarez fight for that payday. So, he doesn’t have time to ease his way into the 154-lb division like a fighter normally would after being out of the ring for a year and reaching retirement age like Crawford.
His Excellency Turki Alalshikh wanted Crawford to fight Madrimov, and he wasn’t about to say no, given that he’s the one who can make the Canelo fight happen in 2025. So, Crawford is taking chances that a fighter his age and inactive during the last four years wouldn’t take because he has no choice. If he wants the Canelo bag, he must fight Madrimov.
It’s just lucky for Crawfrord that Turki didn’t ask him to fight David Benavidez or David Morrell at 168 because it would get exciting. Crawford couldn’t say no to Turki and would be in deep going up against those two punchers.
“When he’s in the ring, he’s very complicated,” Diaz said about Madrimov. “You can watch a video of Israil and give yourself an opinion, but it’s totally different when you’re in the ring with him. When you’re in the ring with him, it’s very complicated.”
Madrimov is hard to predict because of the angles at which he throws his shots and how he attacks. Crawford has never fought anyone with his style before, even though he’s faced Eastern European fighters. They weren’t talented like Madrimov and didn’t have his power.
“When he’s in the ring, he’s in great control. I’ve seen him in the ring spar Dmitry Bivol when he was getting ready for Canelo, I was amazed. This kid is a 154 lbs, and he’s sparring a 175-pounder, and he’s doing great,” said Diaz about Madrimov. “I don’t know if Bivol was going easy on him or not, but that sparring looked great.”
Dmitry Bivol isn’t a big light heavyweight, so that might explain why the stocky Madrimov was able to hold his own against him. Madrimov is built along the same dimensions as Canelo Alvarez, which would help him against Bivol. The power in Madrimov’s shots likely kept Bivol honest because he couldn’t afford to unload on him with combinations without the risk of getting clipped.
“That motivates me to see Israil step in the ring against Terence Crawford. His [Madrimov] youth, his ability to move, and when he hits, he hurts,” said Diaz.” I know in that fight, there’s going to be exchanges, and anything can happen to get that victory.”
If Madrimov defeats Crawford, it’ll be fascinating to see if he’s the one given the Canelo fight. I don’t think it would be a good look for Crawford to be allowed to back into a fight against Canelo after a loss because he would be rewarded for failure, and that’s not how the world operates.
“I know there’s a lot of plans for Terence Crawford to fight Canelo. You can’t count on that. Let this fight happen. They’re [Crawford] not stepping in the ring with an average fighter. This guy [Madrimov] is a world champion. With his experience, anything can happen. After this fight on August 3rd, they’re going to know who Israil Madriov is,” said Diaz.
Crawford has said he’s not looking past Madrimov towards a fight against Canelo, but that’s impossible. He can’t help but look past Madrimov because there’s so much money that he’ll get from the Canelo fight, and that’s likely the sole reason why he’s moved up to 154 in the first place.
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