“Canelo KO This Guy for Fun”: Ryan Garcia, Jamel Herring, and Boxing World Divided as Terence Crawford Goes to Distance for First Time Since 2016 vs. Israil Madrimov

Someone was bound to be too big, too powerful for Terence Crawford. Israil Madrimov checked all those boxes and wanted to showcase that the super welterweight division belonged to him. However, the day when the American boxer lost his unblemished record was not here yet. It turned out to be a night of flying punches, constant adjustments, and the struggle to come on top every time they exchanged punches. But there was only one victor, ‘Bud’.

Crawford won the WBA super welterweight strap in a closely contested fight, as he swept the judges’ scorecard and bagged a unanimous decision (116-112, 115-113×2). The fight might have lacked some fireworks, but it was a game where each punch was thrown with calculations.

Terence Crawford and Israil Madrimov fight a close game of chess

Both fighters started slow, trying to feel the fight and gauge the opponent. Crawford relied on jabs and rights in the initial couple of rounds when the action was slow and thin. Madrimov showed his excellent ring-cutting skills. He also feinted to set up his jabs and rights to counter Crawford’s southpaw stance. While Madrimov played the patience game, Crawford slowly brought in combinations and picked up the pace with his jabs and body shots. Madrimov had also found the range and distance around the same time. By the midpoint, it was all even, on scorecards and momentum. The difference was that Madrimov threw less and landed more, being the more effective of the two.

Then it started, one threw the punches, and the other didn’t back down. Madrimov had Crawford figured out by round 9, where he was feinting, throwing combinations, overhead hooks, lunging punches, and doing a number on Crawford. Punching and dipping remained his style, and his non-stationary upper body proved slippery enough to escape Crawford’s power punches. But Crawford had his moments, relying on one-two to squeeze in rounds into his tally. He let his hands go in round 11 to edge himself ahead on the scorecards. The same momentum carried into the final round, where his rights and uppercuts did some substantial damage, while also leaving himself open to Madrimov’s rights. And that was enough for him to leave the arena as the victor.

‘Bud’ wins the WBA title with varied dissections

Ryan Garcia followed the action closely, and he believed that Madrimov had done enough to collect the win. But he had a funny feeling about the result, as he expressed, “They will take it from madrimov If this ain’t a close fight in the scorecards yall b*tches.” The Victorville native also candidly predicted the fight’s outcome: “Draw or robbery.”

So, following the result, Garcia didn’t shy away from admitting his distaste and asked that Canelo Alvarez knock out Crawford if the two fought in a ring next. He added, “CANELO KO THIS GUY FOR FUN.” ‘KingRy’ then also questioned Crawford’s P4P #1 status and argued, “Regardless of the outcome yall said Crawford is p4p Don’t look like this This man has 11 fights.”

Alycia Baumgardner kept scores of her own, and, according to her cards, Crawford was up before heading into the championship rounds. She wrote, “I got bud up! Championship round!”

George Kambosos Jr. had high hopes for the match as he discussed the nature of Madrimov and Crawford inside the squared circle. He declared, “Idno got a funny feeling about Madrimov, he a live dog forsure but bud should be too good as always let’s see #CrawfordMadrimov.”

Kevin Cunningham dissected the fight with few but correct words. While Madrimov posed the biggest threat to Crawford in years, the latter figured out the way to clinch the title. He noted, “Madrimov was strong, tough and awkward. @terencecrawford found a way to win as usual.”

Christine Lopez, the USA boxing team’s coach, decided to distance herself from the slander against Crawford and believed that him winning was the only result that mattered. She announced, “I’m muting all Bud hate cause at this point thats all it is. Congrats BUD! Beautiful job against a worthy opponent.”

Jamel Herring shed light on the tactical back-and-forth of the fight and attracted the attention to championship rounds, where Crawford turned up the heat. His comment read, “That was definitely a technical chess match. I think Bud turned it up, coming down the stretch in the championship rounds.”

With another title on his waist, Crawford can rest easy for a while. The Omaha native got the result he wanted but this fight also spelled out the troubles for him. If he can find such a challenge at 154, then he can adjust to 168. The fans will find out whether they will get Alvarez vs. Crawford next.

What do you make of this exciting fight between Terence Crawford and Israil Madrimov? Let us know in the comments below.