Promoter Eddie Hearn has doubts that the brilliance of Terence Crawford, already a three-weight champ, will transfer to junior middleweight where he challenges WBA boss Israil Madrimov on August 3.
Crawford, 40-0 (31 KOs), is widely considered to be the pound-for-pound best fighter in the sport today. He won his first title down at lightweight against Ricky Burns back in 2014 and since then has gone on to conquer the junior welterweight and welterweight divisions – becoming undisputed in both. Now Crawford, 36, is aiming to win a belt in a fourth division when he takes on Madrimov.
“Terence Crawford’s first-ever victory as world champion was on my show in Glasgow [against Ricky Burns], it was at 135 pounds,” Hearn, speaking as Madrimov’s promoter, told Matchroom Boxing. “He won a world championship there, he moved to 140 and beat another one of our fighters there to become undisputed at 140 pounds. He moved to 147 and became undisputed at 147. Now he’s moving to 154, sooner or later it’s too much.
Although Hearn accepts his fighter is the underdog going into the contest because of Crawford’s past achievements, he believes that the size and power of the Uzbekistan fighter will be the deciding factor.
“I think when you’re fighting someone who is a big 154-pounder with huge power, that is when you’re going to get found out,” Hearn continued. “[Madrimov is] the underdog going into this fight, but I think this is the toughest fight of Terence Crawford’s career so far. [Crawford] will already go down as a great, but at some point, when you move through the divisions, one of those steps is just a step too far.”
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