Terence Crawford, the current WBA, WBC and WBO Welterweight champion will look to add a fourth belt to his current stash, tomorrow night, Saturday, August 3rd, 2024, as he takes on WBA light middleweight (super welterweight, as you’ll likely hear both terms this weekend) champion, Israil Madrimov, from inside the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, California.
Get full, live results this evening here.
Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs), the pound-for-pound great, will move up to 154 pounds as he bids to become a four-weight world champion, having already conquered lightweight, light welterweight, and welterweight. Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs), has the chance to vault his name into the lights, as the Uzbeki slugger is a relative unknown outside of the bubble of hardcore boxing fans.
Madrimov has looked stellar since turning pro at the age of 23 after back-to-back gold medals at the 2017 Asian Championships and the 2018 Asian Games. A technical draw has been the lone blemish on what is still an undefeated professional record, but the step up in competition is huge for him. Few pundits, self included, are giving the young man a chance here, so let’s just say his best hope is to close the range and land a big right hand. Otherwise, this author suspects disaster for Madrimov.
The undercard to this event is a fairly stellar lineup with several big names, including Isaac Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KOs) defending his WBA super lightweight title against Jose Valenzuela (13-2, 9 KOs) and former unified world heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz (35-2, 22 KOs) returning from shoulder surgery to take on Jarrell Miller (26-1-1, 22 KOs).
Crawford vs Madrimov Betting Odds
- Terence Crawford victory: -700
- Terence Crawford via TKO/KO/DQ: -140
- Terence Crawford via decision: +190
- Israil Madrimov victory: +405
- Israil Madrimov via TKO/KO/DQ: +900
- Israil Madrimov via decision: +1100
- Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook
The Crawford vs. Madrimov card will air live on DAZN and PPV.com starting at 4:30 p.m. ET. The ringwalks for Crawford vs. Madrimov are scheduled for 11:30 p.m. ET.
How Crawford Wins
Crawford is a true boxing savant. His destruction of fellow craftsman Errol Spence last summer was one of the biggest and best boxing matches of the decade, and truly crowned “Bud” as one of the best pugilists of this era. That fight was a showcase of his length, range, timing, footwork and just about every other boxing skill you could ask for, as he put it on Spence, winning every round but the first on the scorecards before he stopped it in the ninth.
The expectation here is that Crawford will break down Madrimov over a handful of minutes before elevating the pressure and ending it in the middle-to-late rounds. My assumption is that his jab is going to be absolutely money for him through the early rounds as he has a significant reach advantage and one of the better jabs in any weight class.
How Madrimov Wins
A meteor lands on Crawford? OK, but seriously, Madrimov has his work cut out for him here. Despite being slightly heavier naturally, he’s merely half an inch taller, and suffers from a beastly 5.5” reach disadvantage. The tape on him isn’t as extensive as it is on Crawford, but from what I’ve seen, his footwork has looked more than adequate and his hands aren’t pillows — to make a long story short, his best chance is to brawl. He’s going to need to get the fight close, land a big punch and not let up off the gas.
As noted with the reach issue, he’s going to have to walk through a buzzsaw to make that gameplan work. I do not envy him his task. He’s got a shot early, as Crawford will likely be shaking off the rust of a year’s layoff combined with his usual slow start, but unless he’s able to put Bud away early or put him in a big enough hole, I’m plain skeptical.
Crawford Vs. Madrimov Prediction
I would like to predict the upset, but I would be lying to the world if I said this had anything but a snowball’s chance of happening. Nothing is assured in boxing, but there’s a reason Crawford is a -700 favorite and still has 96% of the bets landing on him as of Friday night on DraftKings. Crawford by TKO, let’s say in the 9th round.
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