There are reports that tickets for the main event fight between Terence Crawford and Israil Madrimov, which will take place at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on August 3rd next month, are not selling well.
The stadium has a seating capacity of 22,000, so they need to sell a lot of tickets for the main event.
This year's undercard is top notch, with two fights that could become main events, but fans don't seem too excited about Crawford's bout.
Crawford's enthusiasm for the fight fades
If this situation remains the same by late July, organizers may need to take drastic measures, such as lowering ticket prices or moving the main event to Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz vs. Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela, which in my opinion is hands down the best fight on the card.
Southern California is not the ideal location for a Crawford vs. Madrimov main event, and the idea of the Omaha, Nebraska native and former three-division world champion Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) taking on the WBA junior middleweight champion Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) in Los Angeles was a bad idea.
Some avid boxing fans are talking about Crawford vs. Madrimov, but there hasn't been much buzz about the fight on social media. Fans seem more interested in the title defense between WBA light welterweight champion “Pit Bull” Cruz and knockout artist “Rayo” Valenzuela. This is a great fight.
The fight that will resonate with Los Angeles area fans is Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KOs) versus Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela (13-2, 9 KOs). Fans will want to see it.
Crawford's slump since Spence left
Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) seems to have reverted to his pre-Errol Spence Jr. form, and it's not looking good. Crawford hadn't made much headlines on PPV until last year, when he fought former IBF/WBA/WBC welterweight champion Spence on Showtime pay-per-view on July 29, 2023. The Spence vs. Crawford fight brought in 700,000 PPV buys, which is an impressive number for this era.
Crawford's lack of a fight for a year after his win over Spence to enjoy the joy of victory may have hurt his popularity. In retrospect, Crawford should have stayed in action, fighting a couple of times in the past 12 months, rather than remaining on the sidelines.
The only conclusion I can draw from the reports of poor ticket sales for the Crawford vs. Madrimov fight is that Crawford is not popular in the Southern California area and therefore cannot face Madrimov, who is less well known to the general fan base.
Potential Solutions
The best way to increase ticket sales is, simply put, one of two options.
- Ticket price reductions: It's a quick way to boost ticket sales, but it may not be the solution.
- Main Event Exchange: Moving the Cruz vs. Valenzuela fight to the main event will likely increase interest among Southern California fans.
- Focus on promoting the Pitbull vs. Valenzuela fightChanging the marketing strategy for the event to include a more compelling match between Cruz and Valenzuela could help capture fan interest.
Fans in Southern California would be eager to buy tickets if Crawford were to face “The Mexican Monster” David Benavidez, and the fight would generate plenty of interest from Los Angeles fans as it would pit Crawford against one of the best fighters in the 168-pound division.
The winner will face superstar Canelo Alvarez for the undisputed super middleweight championship.
