Tim Bradley Defends Crawford’s Madrimov Performance – ‘Crawford Won, Hands Down’
Tim Bradley has shut down suggestions that Terence Crawford struggled against Israil Madrimov.
Crawford secured a unanimous decision win to give Madrimov his first loss. The win made Crawford the WBA Junior Middleweight Champion and a four-division champion. Crawford landed more jabs, although Madrimov landed ten more power punches.
Eddie Hearn, who represents Madrimov, was unhappy with the scorecards. He was clear Crawford had not done enough to win the belt from the champion when the fight was close. Crawford hit back at those comments, stating that Madrimov’s team knew they had come second best. Now, Bradley has echoed those words by saying Crawford dominated the fight.
Bradley
“Crawford did everything. He led, he started, and he finished combinations. He hurt Madrimov several times during the course of the night. Crawford was landing his jab, controlling the action and dictating the pace. Crawford is a wizard. It’s going to be tough to beat him.
“Did you see the grit from him [Crawford] in the 11th and 12th? You’re giving this dude all his flowers [Madrimov], but you’re forgetting who won. It was Crawford. Crawford won the fight hands down,” Bradley said
Crawford now has a decision to make over his next steps. In his post-fight comments, he called out Canelo Alvarez if the money was fight. However, Turki Alalshikh has now distanced himself from the fight. He has vowed to get Crawford the biggest fights, with Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Jaron Ennis being mentioned.
That makes it more likely that Crawford turns his attention to undisputed at 154. The WBO and WBC champion at 154 is Sabastian Fundora. He is expected to fight Errol Spence Jr. next. The winner could unify, leaving Crawford one belt away from undisputed. Crawford is 36, meaning he is at the latter end of his career. Alalshikh promised to make the biggest fights moving forward.
Crawford Vs. Canelo
“Just wrapped up an important meeting now with my team, planning for the upcoming fights that we will make for 2024-2025. I decided to disregard the Canelo fight, as I don’t want it anymore. Instead, I will be focusing for the US market with bigger fights, especially for the legend Crawford.
“Additionally, I will support making fights for Boots (Jaron Ennis), [Devin] Haney, Shakur [Stevenson], [Virgil] Ortiz, [Jared] Anderson, [David] Benavidez, [William] Zepeda and more. Regarding Tim Tszyu, there’s something unclear with the communications from his team with our team, so I believe I will reconsider his situation,” Alalshikh stated
That may explain why Canelo’s next fight after Edgar Berlanga could be in Japan. His trainer, Eddie Reynoso, teased that if Canelo got past Berlanga. With no clear opponent lined up, Alvarez could simply have an exhibition. Manny Pacquiao had just had an exhibition against Rukiya Anpo last month, while Ryan Garcia said he would box Pacman later this year. Canelo could find himself on the same card, leaving Crawford and Alvarez in different directions.
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