Terence Crawford’s coach, Bernie ‘Tha Boxer’ Davies, insists his fighter has grown into the 154-lb division and might be able to defeat the “hardest” fighter at junior middleweight, WBA champion Israil Madrimov, on August third of their fight on the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
Crawford has never fought at 154, so you may’t know obviously if he’s grown into the division. We all know he’s chasing money, seeking to proceed to make the identical green that he got in his last fight at welterweight against Errol Spence.
To avoid taking a giant payday and potentially getting beaten at welterweight by Boots Ennis, Crawford is moving as much as 154. He’s drunk on success and believes he can do the identical on this division that he did at 147, 140, and 135. It could end badly for Crawford.
Analyzing Madrimov’s Style
“From his last camp, he’s grown right into a true junior middleweight, and I feel he can handle himself,” said Bernie Tha Boxer Davies to Fighthype, talking about Terence Crawford having placed on size ahead of his August third fight against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov.
Crawford still looks like a welterweight, and you may’t call him a junior middleweight without him fighting within the division. We don’t understand how Crawford goes to do at 154 because he’s about to show 37 in September, been out of the ring for a whole yr, fighting annually [once a year] since 2020, and he’s never fought at junior middleweight.
“We all know Madrimov brings loads to the table along with his athletic ability, firepower, footwork, and awkward style. We’re going to map him out, break him down, and figure it out,” said Davies.
We don’t know what Crawford goes to do against Madrimov. Terence is coming off a protracted layoff to fight a younger fighter at 29 with more power than anyone he’s ever fought, and on the flawed side of 30. That ain’t good for Crawford.
Crawford’s Adaptability
“I’d say ‘Mean Machine,’ but this guy has more speed, he’s agile on his feet, and he got big firepower,” said Bernie when asked if Madrimov reminds him of any of the present fighters. “Bud fought all of them. There’s no style he hasn’t seen.”
The reality is, Crawford hasn’t fought one of the best in any division he’s fought in, and there are lots of styles he hasn’t seen. His experience at welterweight is proscribed to those fighters:
– Errol Spence Jr: Post-car crash and weight drained
– Shawn Porter: Old
– Jeff Horn
– David Avanesyan
– Kell Brook: Post-Golovkin loss
– Amir Khan
– Egidijus Kavaliauskas
– Jose Benavidez Jr
When Crawford had the possibility to fight an elite welterweight in Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, he moved as much as 154 somewhat than fighting him.
“It’s just preparing and staying ready and executing a game plan. Bud is one of the best. He can activate a dime and fight on the fly. It’s just getting in proper condition and keep honing his skill.
“We moved as much as 147 and fought one in all the most important welterweights around, Jeff Horn, coming off a [controversial] career-best win over Manny Pacquiao, and we dominated him. Bud, he don’t duck nothing. He wants one of the best.
“We wanted Tim Tszyu and Sebastian Fundora, but we got the hardest junior middleweight. We still got the hardest guy within the junior middleweight division. That’s just the Bud Crawford way. He’s got the talents, he’s got the experience, and he’s got the scale.
“He’s truly a junior middleweight. He’s not undersized. I’d say he’s a real junior middleweight,” said Bernie about Crawford. “That fellow [Madrimov] is perhaps towards a middleweight. We wish the champion. We’re here to gather undisputed and get out of there.”
Crawford IS undersized for the junior middleweight division, and also you’ll know that when he gets in with Madrimov and a few of the other fighters in that weight class. He’s small for the division, but is moving up chasing paydays.
If the 147-lb division was stacked with popular fighters, Crawford could make boatloads of cash fighting for the following two or three years; he wouldn’t be moving up. But he’s chasing paydays at 154 and 168. The one reason Crawford isn’t stopping at 160 is because there aren’t any popular fighters in that division.
When an older fighter is money-hungry and moves up in weight, they get into trouble ultimately. Their hunger for money finally ends up bitting them within the backside and so they get beaten. I think that may occur to Crawford, likely on August third, when he faces Madrimov.
