Terence Crawford goes up against Israil Madrimov on August 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. Making his first ring appearance for the year, the Omaha native looks to dethrone the current WBA light middleweight champion of Uzbekistan and become a four-division king.
Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) was in action last July, when he stopped Errol Spence Jr in the ninth round and landed the undisputed welterweight title. The 36-year-old southpaw was expected to face the latter in a rematch, but the fight didn’t go ahead.
“Bud” was also looking to challenge the then undisputed light middleweight champion Jermell Charlo, as well as was keen to fight the undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Canelo defeated Charlo by unanimous decision last September, and is now scheduled to square off against Edgar Berlanga on September 14 in Las Vegas.
Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) claimed the vacant WBA 154-pound title in March, when he stopped Magomed Kurbanov in the fifth round. The Indio, CA-based 29-year-old makes the first defense of his belt.
“Realistically the next step was to do a rematch with Spence,” Terence Crawford told Matchroom Boxing. “For whatever reason it didn’t happen, so I had to move on with my career. The ultimate goal was to try to get the Canelo fight. That didn’t happen, so we went to the next best thing.”
“154 [lbs division] was wide open. I was looking to fight Charlo, he left, so I’ve got a fight with whoever I could get for a world title. Israil Madrimov is a tremendous fighter. He’s 10-0, already a world champion. He’s a tough dangerous fighter. I think it’s going to be an exciting fight.”
“I think he’s very strong. I think he’s ‘herky-jerky’. I think he’s illusive, he can box, he can brawl, he can move, he can take a punch and that make for a great fight. I know he’s going to train hard. I know his coaches will train him to be the best that he can be and come fight night he’s going to try to do any and everything to dethrone me from my top spot, even though he’s the champion.”
“He wants what I’ve got and that’s the recognition, the accolades, the pound for pound spot. He wants to be on top of the world like myself. He’s going to be filled with so much energy to prove to the world that he belongs in the ring with the top fighters. I consider Israil the best 154 lbs fighter in the division right now. So why not go for the top guy in the division, right off the bat?”
“As for myself, I’ve been here before. This is nothing new. I know how to handle things like this. I know how to go about fighting these type of guys that have a lot to prove. Come fight night I will show the world once and for all, once again, why I’m the best fighter on the planet.”
Terence Crawford and Israil Madrimov battle it out in the main event live on PPV. In the co-main event, WBA super lightweight champion Isaac Cruz defends his belt in an all-Mexican showdown against Jose Valenzuela. Among other bouts, Imperial, California’s former unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr takes on Jarrell Miller of Brooklyn, New York.