Gamboa was seen as a good win universally, anything else is revisionism. Spence beat Garcia and Ugas after the car crash so the excuses hold no weight in reality. 140 being weak wasn't his fault. A prime Postal was a good win. Porter is a good win, Burns was a good win, Kavaliauskas was a top welter and undefeated at the time. 2x undisputed. If he becomes 3x undisputed that's a lock for atg
I've only see a couple or three of his fights but my impression is that Madrimov's a tough sumbitch that hits hard with fast hands, skills and experience. I don't think Crawford will be the smaller or weaker man here, however. Bud's detractors always make their mistake here. Maybe I'm the one that's wrong this time. He keeps moving up he's gonna find his level where he won't enjoy more power in the clinches. That said, imo he's pretty close to Marvelous Marvin Hagler re-incarnated (been saying this forever). Like Hagler vs The Beast at 26-0 (26), he'll figure it out and stop his man late even if he's not the stronger.
Biased much? Crawford is 37 years old coming off another year plus break. He's fighting yet another undefeated opponent. Regardless of where the fight is being held Bud has zero close fights despite facing and beating the best, undefeated versions of Gamboa, Postol, Spence, and Mean Machine while fighting game versions of Porter, Brook, Diaz, Molina, Dulorme, and Burns. That is not necessarily a gauntlet but SOMEONE shouldve given him a fight and there's NEVER been a moment where refs or judges have wrongly favored him...so all your slander about Bud having home advantage is just typical shade. This is a good fight. Bud is a slight favorite mostly due to experience but - contrary to what @Serge says - Madrimov is larger than Bud. Bud may walk around 170ish but he started at 135. His frame is not as large as Madrimov who started at 154. Bud will be 37 years old too and thats a tall task for a guy entering his 4th division.
Truthful is the word you were looking for Crawford is 36 now, looked the best he's ever looked in his previous fight which is his best ever win, and it's not like he had 300 or so amateur fights (he had 70 IIRC) and he hasn't fought many legit bangers or KO artists or been fighting much bigger guys as he's moved up in weight all of which puts a lot of wear and tear on the body. I can't ever remember hearing about him being injured, let alone suffering many injuries and requiring surgeries. Yes, Madrimov does also have the youth advantage. That was an oversight on my part not bias Madrimov has had 11 fights in six years and 8 of them were in his first three years as a pro I never said Crawford has had any close fights. I said the fight will be in Crawford's country again, his 40th out of 41 fights, and that the ref and judges will very likely all be from the US which means that there's a very good chance that Madrimov will likely get robbed if it does go to points and he doesn't dominate. Crawford might not have received any gifts from the judges but many of his countrymen have fighting foreigners in the US, and especially vs EE or Central Asian fighters, so the fact it's in the US and will likely have a full set of home officials is a big advantage for Crawford. That's not slander that's a fact If the fight was in Uzbekistan and Madrimov had a home ref and three home judges do you think that would be a big advantage for him and would it greatly increase the chances of Crawford getting robbed or not? Only difference being that would literally never happen if they fought over there because they only stack the deck with a full set of home officials for world title fights between a home and away fighter in the US and it's almost the norm over there I'm not going to get into a Crawford resume debate as I've done that hundreds of times before. Nothing I said was untrue. He's a excellent fighter. Top 3 P4P. One of the top 5 most skilled in the sport. And he's good to watch. I do not dislike Crawford at all. I never have. But his resume is weak for a 40 fight vet and top 5 P4P star. In the post of mine you quoted I stated clearly that Madrimov is a good fighter, a talented one, a very big puncher, that he just might be the best at 154 (which I believe he is but he has to prove it first), and that I give Crawford credit for facing him in his first fight at the weight. If Madrimov was much or way bigger than him, had 15 or 30 + fights as opposed to 11, had actually fought lots of world class opponents and world champions, and was fighting him in Uzbekistan with a home ref and three home judges obviously Crawford would deserve and receive a lot more credit for it. You know, like certain other multiple weight champs do over in the US routinely I know what weight Crawford started out at. I also know he was cutting and rehydrating a huge amount of weight to fight at 135, a weight he only technically made six times in his 24 fights before moving up to 140 IIRC, and what he had to put his body through to get down to that weight. Go watch his HBO 2 Days documentary. Making weight was the theme of his one. I also know he was coming in as high as 153 at that weight. 153 against Beltran who IIRC he had a 9lbs weight advantage over and 152 against Gamboa who he had a 7lbs weight advantage over and a 9'' reach advantage lol. He weighed more at 135 against Beltran than career 140 beanpole Postol weighed against him at 140 and he had a 5lb weight advantage against Postol on the night too Crawford posted a photo of himself weighing 177lbs on the scales six years ago for goodness sake and he said he weighed 180 late last year His trainer said this too “What a lot of people don't know is that Terrance can walk around at 180 lbs, and he's healthy. “ Remember that 153 figure I mentioned him coming in as high as down at 135 And he was coming in as high as 157 at 140 Now watch Madrimov “To be honest, I could easily make 147lbs. I walk around at roughly 160-164lbs, so it would not be a difficult cut for me. Some welterweights like Errol Spence are bigger than me, even. But I did not want to compete there, because my priority is winning world titles and I knew that it would be very hard to get a title shot in the division. The way boxing politics is, the best at the weight would have avoided me.'' 154lbs is much better for me - it is a very open division, the titles change hands a lot but there are many good fighters who I can beat to build my legacy. I want the biggest fights, and I will get them in this division. When some of the welterweights like Spence and Garcia move up as well, they will be more likely to face me if I am champion.” Madrimov is not a big guy at all. He looks a bit chubby in the face here but even the commentators mention the lack of size difference between him and Crawford Crawford's 4th weight class and they look about the same size as each other This content is protected Crawford has a deceptive body. He's a big guy. Hence why he's willing to go up to face Clenelo Timestamped This content is protected Here he is in his own words four years ago weighing in the ''60s-70s'' so in the late 160s at least. He looks super lean and he's obviously bigger now. Bear in mind that Clenelo who is a SMW comes in at 178-180 at 168 and 175. That's 4 divisions above 147 This content is protected Unless Madrimov has started coming in much heavier than before which I doubt, there's a good chance Crawford will have a significant or maybe even a big weight advantage but in no way, shape or form will he be the smaller man in there. At very worst they will weigh roughly the same and that's assuming Madrimov is coming in heavier now too It's a good fight and a risky one for both
He is a skilled puncher and Crawford’s best opponent to date, so I wouldn’t want to completely count him out. The level difference is pretty apparent though. The safe bet is a tko win for Bud imo.
I agree w your whole post with only 2 caveats. Bud was notoriously ducked at 147 and never had the chance to fight Thurma or Danny Garcia despite making offers. Bud even challenged Pacman who...went a different way. All I'll say is walk around weight and fight weight are different things. Very few fighters compete near their walk around weight. IIRC I recently read that Inoue walks around in the 30s-40s. The Floyds and Pacquiaos are rare because most guys drain themselves at least a little bit. Regardless of all that we're only a few weeks away and this gone be good
I watched some highlights earlier, so admittedly I’m not too familiar with Madrimov… But what I saw, even in his “highlights” is that he gets set before he punches almost every time - even if his busy foot rhythm gives the illusion that he doesn’t… I see Bud timing him often and beating him up.
Yeah I've never argued Crawford has ducked anyone, other than Super Boots that is. I've just merely stated that his resume is weak for a 40 fight vet and top 5 P4P star and we can only judge him on who he has fought. Yeah I know that but if Crawford was coming in as high as 153 at 135 way back when, which is just 7-11lbs lighter than career 154 Madrimov's walk around weight, as high as 157 at 140, just 3-7lbs lighter than Madrimov's walk around weight, and was obviously coming in much heavier than that at 147, then even the 147 version of him is likely heavier on fight night than Madrimov, let alone the 154 version. At worst they will weigh roughly the same but I won't be surprised if Crawford is significantly or much heavier on the night. But either way, Crawford in his 4th weight class is fighting someone roughly his size. Yes
My thinking on this is that Crawford will early realise that Madrimov is tough and hits hard and will box cuatiously on the outside, utilizing his 6 inch reach advantage Crawford is a smart fighter, and we have seen him do this before (Postol), and it would not make sense for Bud to get into a firgefight / trade with Madrimov. Whilst Madrimov has the power to hurt Crawford and gain his respect, and the skills to make it competetive, Bud is too skilled to not make that 6 inch reach advantage count and dictate things from the outside. Madrimov's best chance IMO is to start fast and catch Bud with something big as early as possible before Terrence establishes his range and rythym.
Yeh exactly what I think. I’d be very shocked if the fight was remotely competitive after the first couple of feeling out rounds. Interested to see who bud fights after this.
Crawford never ducked anyone. He offered Boots the fight - coincidentally, when Avanyesan fought him on BLK Prime - and Bud passed. Boots inherited Bud's IBF belt when Bud was still contractually obligated to rematch Spence who had activated their clause. It is completely incorrect to suggest Bud ever ducked Boots. When the fight was offered it was Boots who "ducked".
I hope it goes 12 rounds, but Crawford will win. I don’t think Crawford is in the same tier as Floyd in terms of greatness, but he’s good enough to be this generation version of Floyd. I still think Canelo would beat him if the fight happens this year or next year.