Terence Crawford attempts to win a world title in the fourth weight class of his career when he takes on WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on Saturday in Los Angeles. The fight is Crawford’s first at junior middleweight after winning a world title at lightweight and becoming undisputed champion at both junior welterweight and welterweight.
While Crawford has long been seen as one of the elite fighters in the sport, his most recent performance vaulted him to one of the top two spots on nearly every pound-for-pound list in the sport. In that fight, Crawford dominated Errol Spence Jr. in a long-awaited clash to crown an undisputed welterweight champion, scoring a ninth-round TKO.
Crawford has not returned to the ring since his July 2023 thrashing of Spence. It was originally expected the two would meet in a rematch but Spence underwent cataract surgery, allowing the time to expire on the contracted rematch clause.
With Crawford already planning a move up in weight, he was then able to focus on conquering new ground and land in a fight with Madrimov.
“I feel great, come Saturday I got a treat for y’all,” Crawford said this week. “I’m expecting him to do anything he can to throw me off, but I said it before and I’ll say it again, this is the Terence Crawford era and I’m taking that belt.
“I’m just so competitive that when I think I’ve reached my ceiling, there’s always that extra push to do something that I haven’t done before.”
Madrimov comes from a solid amateur background, having won multiple championships. He turned professional in 2018 and has rattled off a 10-0-1 record, with the lone blemish on his resume a technical draw against Michel Soro in July 2022 after a clash of heads caused a cut over Soro’s eye. The Soro fight was a rematch of a 2021 fight that Madrimov won by TKO in controversial fashion after a punch that landed after the bell caused the stoppage.
In his most recent bout, Madrimov stopped Magomed Kurbanov in the fifth round to win the WBA title. That fight nearly didn’t happen after a pre-fight medical test revealed an issue that required a second MRI to be cleared. With Jermell Charlo having been named “champion in recess” by the WBA, Madrimov and Kurbanov were fighting for the vacant belt.
While Madrimov is a talented fighter and an argument could be made that he’s the top fighter at 154 pounds, Crawford will enter the ring as a heavy favorite to pull off the win and take the title.
“I feel great, I’ve waited for this moment for a long time,” Madrimov said. “My dream is coming true. Saturday night I’ll show every boxing fan a great fight.
“I’m only thinking about the victory, and I will show everything that I have inside the ring.”
One of the primary storylines heading into the fight actually looks past Saturday’s action as Crawford has been chasing a fight with unified super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Despite the weight difference between the two, a clash of two of the best fighters of their generation would be a huge fight and the most financially lucrative option as both men wind down their careers.
While Alvarez initially blew off the idea, he has warmed to it some in recent months, meaning Crawford needs to avoid a misstep to keep the possibility of landing the fight in play.
Saturday has one of the deepest undercards, by boxing standards, of the year. Despite losing a great matchup between Tim Tszyu and Vergil Ortiz Jr., there’s plenty of action that should draw interest before we reach the main event. Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz looks to defend his WBA junior welterweight title against Jose Valenzuela in the co-main event. Former unified heavyweight king Andy Ruiz returns from a two-year layoff to take on a man known more for his transgressions out of the ring in Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller. Plus, rising American heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson gets his toughest test to date against Martin Bakole. And former WBA super middleweight champion David Morrell makes his debut a light heavyweight when he takes on Radivoje Kalajdzic.
“I feel good man, I feel amazing. I’m blessed to be here and Aug. 3 is going to be an amazing time,” Ruiz said this week. “I’m more hungry than ever, I want to be a two time heavyweight champion of the world, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do Saturday.”
“I feel great losing 47 pounds and I put in all the work and I’m in shape,” Miller said. “I feel because I have been out of the ring for so long that losing the weight helped me bring me back to the right technique.”
Let’s take a closer look at the rest of the undercard with the latest odds before getting to a prediction and expert pick on the main event.
Crawford vs. Madrimov fight card, odds
- Terence Crawford -700 vs. Israil Madrimov (c) +475, WBA junior middleweight title
- Isaac Cruz (c) -450 vs. Jose Valenzuela +330, WBA junior welterweight title
- Andy Ruiz -300 vs. Jarrell Miller +230, heavyweights
- David Morrell -3000 vs. Radivoje Kalajdzic +1400, light heavyweights
- Jared Anderson -190 vs. Martin Bakole +155, heavyweights
- Andy Cruz -2000 vs. Antonio Moran +1100, lightweights
- Steven Nelson -1600 vs. Marcos Vazquez Rodriguez +750, super middleweights
- Ziyad Almaayouf -2500 vs. Michal Bulik +950, welterweights
Prediction
Madrimov is not some light touch brought in to give Crawford an easy welcome to 154 pounds, he is perhaps the best fighter currently active in the division. That said, Crawford is one of the best fighters on the planet and should be expected to win this fight. Where Madrimov is good, Crawford is great and that is almost always the deciding factor.
Where things could get interesting is if age (Crawford is closing in on his 37th birthday) and the year out of the ring catch up to Crawford. We’ve seen almost every great fighter in boxing history suddenly hit a wall where age catches up and they lose a step and suddenly lesser fighters are able to keep up.
That probably doesn’t happen to Crawford on Saturday. Instead, Madrimov will likely have some success at times in the early rounds before Crawford locks in his plan of attack and takes over. Once Crawford gets rolling, it’s nearly impossible to stop that momentum. Pick: Terence Crawford via TKO8
Who wins Crawford vs. Madrimov, and which method-of-victory prop is a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to see Peter Kahn’s best bets for Saturday, all from the boxing specialist who has netted his followers a profit of more than $4,300, and find out.
