BMO Stadium, Los Angels — In the main event,Terrance "Bud" Crawford (41-0, 31KOs) defeated Israel Madrimov by unanimous decision. Although Bud defeated Madrimov it wasn't easy. Prior to the Madrimov fight, the last time a fighter extended Bud all 12 scheduled rounds in a fight was back in 2016 when he fought Victor Postal. Every fighter that Bud has fought after Postal has been knocked out the last one being Errol Spence last July 2023.
From the start of the fight, Madrimov didn't stop moving and didn't provide an easy target for Crawford. The fight was also closer than the official Judge's score cards, many observer's opinions. One Judge had the fight 116-112 while the other 2 Judges had it 115-113. Philboxing scored the fight 7 rounds for Crawford and 5 rounds for Madrimov.
At the end of the fight, Madrimov’s facial bruises to the left side of his face reflected the the damages inflicted by punches that landed to Madrimov's face by Crawford. Madrimov did cause a little "mouse" (swelling) to Bud's left eyelid which was noticeable at the end of the fight.
The Official Punch Stats, as reported by the Boxing Telecast - (Chris Mannix, Shawn Porter, Sergio Mora) supports and justifies a decision victory for Crawford by the Judges because Crawford outlanded Madrimov in total punches landed by each fighter 95-84.
After the fight during the post fight interview, Crawford praised Madrimov but said he took his time during the fight, a reference no doubt to the decision victory and not the expected knockout win.
When Madrimov was interviewed, he acknowledged Crawford as being the "Pound for Pound" (P4P) best, but looked for credit for his performance after only 10 professional fights against Crawford the best P4P and expressed interest in a rematch with Crawford. Madrimov also expressed that he did enough to win the fight. Madrimov's Promoter Eddie Hearn praised Crawford as a great fighter, but complained that his fighter Madrimov did enough to defeat Crawford. Hearn did admit the fight was close.
Perhaps Crawford's performance against Madrimov which was good enough to win, as opposed to his spectacular performance against Spence, will now entice Canelo Alvarez to fight Crawford should he prevail in his next fight against Edgar Berlanga in September. Lets see what happens.
"All in All", an excellent card at the BMO stadium!!!
Comments
Share your thoughts on the above article by Ralph Rimpell.