Promoter Eddie Hearn predicts a knockout victory for WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov when Terence Crawford defends his title at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on August 3.
Madrimov's path to superstardom
Hearn feels this is the fight that will catapult Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) into “superstar” status after beating Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) in a stepping stone bout on DAZN and ESPN+ PPV.
“He's ready to knock out Terence Crawford in Los Angeles. This fight will turn Israil Madrimov into a superstar,” promoter Eddie Hearn said on X.
A win for the 29-year-old Madrimov over Crawford would send shockwaves through the boxing world because many fans view him as unbeatable and believe he could move up to super middleweight and beat Canelo Alvarez in early 2025.
Can Crawford overcome Madrimov's power?
Madrimov has the power and style to give Crawford a hard time, but he lacks the combination punches needed to take down the Nebraska native, so taking pot shots at him will likely be ineffective.
If Madrimov had the one-punch power of the old knockout artists, like Julian Jackson, then he would, but he's not that type of puncher. If he could land those punches, it wouldn't matter if he couldn't land a combination against Crawford. He'd beat Crawford eventually.
Crawford has a good chance of beating Canelo after Canelo struggled in his last fight against a run-of-the-mill looking Jamie Munguia. He'll have to beat Madrimov on August 3 first, which will give us a good chance to see if Crawford can move up to 168 pounds to face Canelo.
Crawford's future plans: Canelo and beyond
If Crawford beats Madrimov and Canelo, then his Excellency Turki Aralsik will have to set another hurdle for him. Could Crawford move up to 175 pounds and fight guys like Artur Beterbiev, Dmitry Bivol, or David Benavidez? That would be the next plan. If he beats Canelo, it would be pointless for Crawford to go back to 154.
“Obviously, they have a plan and they think ahead about what's going to happen next. I have a plan too. My plan is to get the win on August 3,” Madrimov told FightHype, offering his thoughts on Crawford.
Madrimov is troubled by Crawford's disregard for him heading into the Canelo fight, but at least he knows Crawford is confident of victory. Now it's up to Madrimov to show the 36-year-old Crawford that he disrespected him.
Madrimov's focus on the present
“I'm focused on my fight with Terence Crawford. I'm not thinking about anything else. I'm here to win the fight. We'll talk about everything else after the fight,” Madrimov said.
“Him helping Terence Crawford might help Crawford, maybe it doesn't. We'll see in the ring,” Madrimov said of Andre Ward helping Crawford with sparring. “If it motivates and helps Crawford, then that's good for him. Bivol is helping me prepare for the fight.”
Sparring Crawford with 40-year-old Andre Ward isn't a big deal because his style is completely different from Madrimov's and he didn't look in great shape on film in training.
“We chose our own paths: his path was professional boxing, my path was amateur boxing,” Madrimov said, explaining why he had only 11 professional fights to Crawford's 40. “That's why I won multiple world titles as an amateur.
Madrimov likely has better amateur experience than Crawford due to his many years of experience fighting as a professional, and while Madrimov fought many high-level fighters as an amateur, Crawford's pro resume is filled with bouts against lower-level fighters both early and late in his career.
“Since I turned professional, I have had a tough path. We chose a tough path, so all 10 fights were tough fights, six of them were title fights, all of them were tough, so it was tough competition. Yes, he is more famous, but it's my opportunity,” Madrimov said of his journey.
