Chasing History: Crawford v Madrimov Preview And Prediction

Pound-for-pound king Terence Crawford looks to become a four-weight world champion when he challenges Israil Madrimov for the WBA junior middleweight title at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on Saturday night (Sunday morning SA time), writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.

6 AM Sunday SA time

Terence Crawford (1.13) v Israil Madrimov (5.75) (WBA Junior Middleweight Championship

The greats are never satisfied. Always pursuing the next mountain to climb or paradigm to shift, they have an insatiable hunger to make history.

Crawford certainly fits that description.

He’s won titles at 135, 140 and 147 pounds. He’s one of just three two-division undisputed champions in the modern four-belt era and sits atop the pound-for-pound rankings.

He’s a flawless 40-0 with 31 knockouts and despite being on the wrong side of 30, he produced his best performance of his career in the long-awaited super-fight against Errol Spence Jr last July.

In a true masterclass, “Bud” battered Spence from pillar to post, dropping him once in the second round and twice in the seventh before stopping him in the ninth to hand him his first-ever loss and become the undisputed champion at 147 pounds.

Intent on making more history, he moves up to 154 pounds to earn the right to call himself a four-weight world champion. Along with Madrimov’s WBA belt, the interim WBO title will also be on the line.

Madrimov is looking to make history himself. A rising star, he has 10 wins with seven knockouts, no defeats and a draw. Fresh off winning the WBA title with a devastating fifth-round knockout of Magomed Kurbanov in March, “The Dream” is determined to become the first man to defeat Crawford and cement himself as the next big thing.

Both men have their challenges in one another. Crawford has to adjust to fighting at 154 pounds for the first time and shake off possible ring rust, while Madrimov has to do what no man has ever done – overcome the extraordinary well-roundedness, fight IQ and vast experience of his decorated foe. 

Crawford can do it all. He can be the aggression, he can counter, he can box, and he can brawl. He’s a sophisticated switch-hitter, which enables him to attack from different angles and keep his opponent guessing. He’s a master of distance control, adept at gliding in and out of range and setting up counters and fires off fast combinations.

Uzbekistan’s Madrimov is an intriguing challenge for Crawford as he’s undoubtedly the most powerful puncher the American has ever been matched up with. The 29-year-old has size and youth on his side and is unorthodox yet accurate.

He has an educated jab to the head and body that helps open up power shots and deceptively good movement with an active front foot and sneaky left hook. He likes attacking from slanted angles and has good variation.

The key for him will be to gain Crawford’s respect early. Conversely, it would serve Crawford well to be cautious and patient early on. Knowing the 36-year-old, he’ll do exactly that and use his speed, experience and five-inch reach advantage (despite being the shorter man) to pick Madrimov apart over 12 rounds.

Prediction: Crawford by decision.

Best Bet: Crawford by decision at 2.90.

Alternative Bet: Over 10.5 rounds at 1.91.

Quintin van Jaarsveld

Quintin Van Jaarsveld is a former MDDA-Sanlam SA Local Sports Journalist of the Year and a former three-time Vodacom KwaZulu-Natal Sports Journalist of the Year. Formerly the sports editor and Outstanding Journalist of the Year award winner at The Fever Media Group, deputy editor at eHowzit, editor at SARugby.com and senior staff writer at Rugby365.com, he boasts over 15 years’ experience and is currently a freelance sports writer.