Terence Crawford aims for another slice of history and greatness, as he attempts to take the WBA super welterweight title from Israil Madrimov at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles this Saturday night. The interim WBO world title is also at stake in California.
Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing is the lead promoter for Crawford vs Madrimov, with the action live on DAZN pay-per-view.
Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) is at the very top of many people’s mythical pound-for-pound lists, and rightly so.
The Nebraskan first reigned as a world champion way back in 2014 when he outscored Ricky Burns in Glasgow for the WBO lightweight title, and over ten years later, he has reigned as undisputed super lightweight champion, and then moved up to welterweight in 2018 to serve as WBO welterweight champion, a title he defended six times before adding the full set of belts at 147 pounds in his last contest last July.
There, the 36-year-old southpaw produced a masterclass in a superb ninth round stoppage of Errol Spence Jr that gave him the WBC, WBA ‘super’ and IBF crowns to become undisputed at a second weight.
‘Bud’ now tackles California-based Uzbek, Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs), a man with extensive amateur experience, but limited professional experience.
Madrimov’s only blemish was a technical draw in a rematch with Michel Soro in July 2022, and after widely winning on the cards against Raphael Igbokwe in April 2023, ’The Dream’ was awarded a shot at the vacant WBA title, which was a chance he grabbed with both hands in a fifth round stoppage win against the unbeaten Russian, Magomed Kurbanov.
Prediction: This could all be down to how Crawford adjusts to a new weight, and I believe he can excel, just as he has in other divisions. Once he weathers an early storm, he can become the new champion with a clear points win.
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Morrell tackles Kalajdzic
It’s a stacked undercard, and the vacant WBA light heavyweight title is up for grabs, as David Morrell moves up in weight to take on Radivoje Kalajdzic.
Morrell (10-0, 9 KOs) previously served as WBA champion at super middleweight, defending six times, the last a second round stoppage of Sena Agbeko in December 2023.
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Kalajdzic (29-2, 21 KOs) has won five on the spin since a fifth round knockout loss to Artur Beterbiev for the IBF title in 2019, his last a tenth round knockout of former world title challenger, Sullivan Barrera in March.
Prediction: Morrell can debut in the division with a statement knockout win that can hopefully allow him to mix with the big boys in the division.
Ruiz meets Miller
A heavyweight meeting sees former unified world champion, Andy Ruiz Jr make his first appearance in nearly two years, as he takes on Jarrell Miller.
Ironically, when Miller (26-1-1, 22 KOs) was discovered to have failed a drug test ahead of a June 2019 meeting with Anthony Joshua, Ruiz Jr (35-2, 22 KOs) stepped in to score a seismic knockout win, but hasn’t built on that, losing an immediate rematch and only boxing twice since, the last a points win against Luis Ortiz in September 2022 where he dropped the Cuban three times.
Miller is coming off a final round stoppage loss to Daniel Dubois.
Prediction: I can see this being a bruising contest, and one that Ruiz can take on the scorecards.
Anderson battles Bakole
Another intriguing clash at heavyweight sees Jared Anderson take on arguably his biggest challenge yet, as he meets Martin Bakole.
Anderson (17-0, 15 KOs) has been the ten round distance in two of his last three outings, the last a wide points win against Ryad Merhy in April, while Bakole (20-1, 15 KOs) has improved since losing to Michael Hunter in 2018, and he has since held wins over the likes of Tony Yoka (MD10), and Carlos Takam (TKO4).
Prediction: Anderson can take a close win on the cards.
Cruz clashes with Valenzuela
The third world title bout comes at super lightweight, where Isaac Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KOs) can defend the WBA super lightweight title that he won from Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero in March by taking a stoppage win against Jose Valenzuela (13-2, 9 KOs), who is coming off a rematch stoppage victory against Chris Colbert.
Remaining Undercard
Talented former amateur starlet, Andy Cruz (3-0, 1 KOs) also sees action, and the Cuban can defend his IBF International lightweight title with a points win over ten against Antonio Moran (30-6-1, 21 KOs).
Steven Nelson (19-0, 15 KOs), an unbeaten super middleweight from Nebraska, can stay undefeated by outscoring Marcos Vazquez Rodriguez (20-0-1, 10 KOs) over ten rounds, and in the sole six rounder, Ziyad Almaayouf (5-0, 1 KO) can take a points win against Michael Bulik (6-7, 2 KOs) in their welterweight meeting.
