Terence Crawford will reportedly be transferring as much as 154 lbs to face WBA titleholder Israil Madrimov in an Aug. 2 predominant occasion from Los Angeles, promoted by Turki Alalshikh’s Riyadh Season group out of Saudi Arabia.
ESPN.com’s Mike Coppinger had the information as we speak.
This follows information that Jermell Charlo, who was named champion in recess by the WBA, can be invoking his proper to face Madrimov, who received the vacant title on Mar. 8, stopping Magomed Kurbanov within the fifth spherical.
Charlo and Premier Boxing Champions have made clear to the WBA that they’re prepared to step again and permit Crawford vs Madrimov to occur first, which may very well be a great transfer, business-wise, as Crawford vs Charlo — which has been an out-of-ring rivalry for a while — can be a lot greater cash for Jermell than a battle with Madrimov.
This may be Turki Alalshikh’s first present formally promoted exterior of Saudi Arabia.
The 36-year-old Crawford (40-0, 31 KO) has received world titles at 135, 140, and 147 lbs, going undisputed at each 140 and 147. He totally unified the welterweight division final 12 months with a one-sided beatdown of Errol Spence Jr in a long-anticipated showdown. There had been speak of a rematch, and Spence had the contractual choice, however the window to make it occur has lengthy closed.
Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KO) is a 29-year-old from Uzbekistan who’s a prime fighter on the weight and a legit problem, at the very least as legit as anybody on the weight could be for Crawford, who’s a pound-for-pound elite and arguably the perfect boxer on the earth as we speak.
