Terence Crawford will have to be in the identical type he was a yr in the past to have an opportunity of dethroning the youthful, stronger, and extra energetic WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on August third.
(Credit score: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
Madrimov’s model has change into extra like Gennadiy Golovkin’s in his final 4 fights. He’s sitting down on his photographs and placing full energy into them.
Crawford has by no means been hit by a fighter with the GGG-like energy that Madrimov possesses, and it’s going to be attention-grabbing to see how he handles all of the photographs of their headliner conflict.
Will Crawford transfer all night time to keep away from battle? Given his additional weight, 13 months of inactivity, and age, will probably be tough for him to do this for twelve rounds with out tiring.
The energy that the 29-year-old Madrimov possesses is bigger than something the 36-year-old Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) has skilled earlier than throughout his 16-year skilled profession.
It’s not an excellent time for Crawford to struggle somebody with the facility Madrimov possesses after 13 months out of the ring, transferring up one weight class to 154 and needing this victory to get a shot at a colossal payday in opposition to Canelo Alvarez.
We’ve seen Crawford damage in fights in opposition to these fighters:
– Egidijus Kavaliauskas
– Dierry Jean
– Yuriorkis Gamboa
Terence hasn’t confronted many huge punchers throughout his profession. Though Crawford did struggle Errol Spence, he regarded bodily out of it in that struggle, drained from making weight.
On the weigh-in, Spence resembled Crypt Keeper and made jokes about his look, but it surely was clear that he didn’t belong at 147. His efficiency in opposition to Crawford that night time confirmed that making weight had taken loads out of him.
Crawford goes into the struggle with Madrimov with loads going in opposition to him, and he’s hoping that his previous success in opposition to a handful of lesser fighters at 147, 140, and 135 will probably be sufficient for him to do the identical factor at 154 in opposition to the sort of athlete.
Crawford is combating for cash now and not loves the game like he as soon as did. When a fighter solely fights annually, it’s a sign that they’ve misplaced their love for boxing and simply seen it as a approach to replenish their financial institution accounts earlier than going off into one other prolonged trip of 1+ years.
Crawford might deny that, however the proof is there. If he cherished boxing, he would struggle twice to thrice yearly like he used to as a result of he would earn more money. The ambition isn’t there, and that’s a nasty factor for him going right into a dangerous struggle in opposition to a youthful fighter with extra energy than anybody he’s by no means competed in opposition to.
𝓓𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓶 𝓑𝓲𝓰 💭👑 @IsrailMadrimov#CrawfordMadrimov | Aug 3 | #RiyadhSeasonCard pic.twitter.com/ZN4IrlgGUi
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) July 21, 2024
