Madrimov's first defense potentially against Crawford!
Earlier today BoxingScene reported that there was ongoing talks for WBA Light Middleweight champion to make his first defense, Israil Madrimov (10-0-1, 7) and do so in the biggest fight of his career, as the Uzbekistani is now linked to facing American Terence Crawford (40-0, 31), who will be looking to claim world titles in a 4th weight class.
The report on BoxingScene suggests the fight is being eyed to take place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on August 3rd, and will be promoted by Eddie Hearn, in association with Turki Alalshikh, who has been responsible for the recent huge cards in Saudi Arabia.
For Madrimov the fight gives him a chance to face a major recognisable name, and a pound for pound elite level fighter. Something he hasn’t come close to facing yet. In fact the 29 year old’s biggest and best wins have come against solid, but unspectacular fighters, such as Michel Soro and Magomed Kurbanov. It is however a fight where he will be regarded as a major under-dog against a man that is a 3-weight world champion and a 2-weight undisputed world champion.
Crawford, who is now 36 and turns 37 in September, was last seen in the ring in July when he stopped Errol Spence in 9 rounds. Whilst Crawford would, clearly, be the favorite against Madrimov, it is worth noting that the August date would mean that Crawford would have been out of the ring for over a year come fight night, and that 2024 would likely be another year where he only fights a single time. “Bud” has actually only fought once a year since 2020, beating Kell Brook in 2020, Shawn Porter in 2021, David Avenesyan in 2022 and Spence in 2023, which is rather frustrating as fans of a genuinely generational talent. He also has just 29 rounds since the start of 2020, which is again disappointing for someone with such undeniable talent. In saying that however he has now scored T/KO’s in 11 straight bouts, dating back to 2016, with his last distance win coming against Viktor Postol in July 2016.
Given that Crawford is running out of time to build on the win over Spence, a bout with Madrimov would make a lot of sense, and give him a great chance to win a world title at a 4th weight. It would also potentially set the winner up to face the likes of Jermell Charlo, the winner of the rematch between Sebastian Fundora and Tim Tszyu, the hard hitting and unbeaten Vergil Ortiz and the all action Serhii Bohachuk, which would all make for interesting bouts in 2025.
For those wanting to read the BoxingScene report about the bout it’s available here.
The report on BoxingScene suggests the fight is being eyed to take place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on August 3rd, and will be promoted by Eddie Hearn, in association with Turki Alalshikh, who has been responsible for the recent huge cards in Saudi Arabia.
For Madrimov the fight gives him a chance to face a major recognisable name, and a pound for pound elite level fighter. Something he hasn’t come close to facing yet. In fact the 29 year old’s biggest and best wins have come against solid, but unspectacular fighters, such as Michel Soro and Magomed Kurbanov. It is however a fight where he will be regarded as a major under-dog against a man that is a 3-weight world champion and a 2-weight undisputed world champion.
Crawford, who is now 36 and turns 37 in September, was last seen in the ring in July when he stopped Errol Spence in 9 rounds. Whilst Crawford would, clearly, be the favorite against Madrimov, it is worth noting that the August date would mean that Crawford would have been out of the ring for over a year come fight night, and that 2024 would likely be another year where he only fights a single time. “Bud” has actually only fought once a year since 2020, beating Kell Brook in 2020, Shawn Porter in 2021, David Avenesyan in 2022 and Spence in 2023, which is rather frustrating as fans of a genuinely generational talent. He also has just 29 rounds since the start of 2020, which is again disappointing for someone with such undeniable talent. In saying that however he has now scored T/KO’s in 11 straight bouts, dating back to 2016, with his last distance win coming against Viktor Postol in July 2016.
Given that Crawford is running out of time to build on the win over Spence, a bout with Madrimov would make a lot of sense, and give him a great chance to win a world title at a 4th weight. It would also potentially set the winner up to face the likes of Jermell Charlo, the winner of the rematch between Sebastian Fundora and Tim Tszyu, the hard hitting and unbeaten Vergil Ortiz and the all action Serhii Bohachuk, which would all make for interesting bouts in 2025.
For those wanting to read the BoxingScene report about the bout it’s available here.