Crawford Beats Madrimov To Become A Four-Division Champion
Terence Crawford is a four-division champion, beating Israil Madrimov via a unanimous decision to pick up his WBA belt.
Crawford fought his first fight at 154, and there were question marks over whether he could handle the power. But Bud answered those questions by taking Madrimov’s shots and returning fire with his own arsenal. Crawford got off to a calculating start. He spent much of the first round reading his opponent and circling away from Madrimov’s attempts to close the distance. Bud switched stances to prevent Madrimov from closing the distance, who wanted Crawford on the ropes.
Early Pressure
By the second round, Crawford’s jab was working its magic. He landed several on Madrimov’s chin, who reacted by landing his right hand. Bud took the shot and responded with an uppercut to close the third round.
Madrimov had a good fourth round, with back-to-back right-hands landing. By the end of round six, Crawford was ahead, but Madrimov was not going anywhere.
Crawford Pulls Away
Madrimov had a successful seventh round. Several right hands followed, with a left hook. Madrimov’s output was less than Crawford’s, but his shots were more heavy-handed. Crawford switched that up in round ten. An uppercut and a left-right combination shook Madrimov as Bud pulled away in the latter rounds.
Crawford threw more in the 11th, as Madrimov was simply outdone. The Uzbek had to get a KO to prevent his first defeat. It never looked like coming as Bud upped the pace in the 12th to take it on the cards: 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113.
Crawford’s focus was to face Canelo Alvarez at super middleweight. However, there is a feeling that Crawford could suffer if he took similar shots flush on the chin. Eddie Hearn, who represents Madrimov, said Bud had not shown enough to win the belt since Israil was the champion. Crawford hit back at those remarks.
Post-Fight Interview
“You know what I say, if the money is right, we [Canelo] got to fight. I fought the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and I believe I did enough because I was the champion. [And] I was controlling the rhythm and felt very comfortable inside the ring.
“I believe that I did really well. I didn’t want to rush in with anything because that’s how I got caught a couple times, rushing in, trying to eat too soon. He was waiting to counter me just like I was trying to counter him. He was very disciplined, he wasn’t coming in throwing them wild shots like I intended him to, and it was a very good fight,” Crawford
“I made a couple mistakes, but I felt I did enough in each round. I was holding myself back a lot too, so in the rematch I can make a lot more,” Madrimov
Comments
Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.
