Official result: Terence Crawford def. Israil Madrimov via unanimous decison (116-112, 115-113, 115-113) to win the WBA junior middleweight championship
Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov fight results, highlights: 'Bud' outpoints foe to claim WBA title
Crawford is now a four-division champion after taking the WBA 154-pound crown on Saturday night
If anyone expected Israil Madrimov to be a soft touch to get Terence Crawford acclimated to the junior middleweight division, they walked away from Saturday's fight with their eyes opened to Madrimov's skills. 'Bud' claimed the WBA junior middleweight title inside BMO Stadium in Los Angeles with a close, but unanimous decision over his opponent from Uzbekistan.
It was clear from the early rounds that Madrimov was going to present an intriguing challenge to Crawford, arguably the sport's best pound-for-pound fighter. Madrimov showcased fast hands and good footwork, feinting and moving to keep Crawford from getting comfortable and letting his hands go in the way he has against so many other great fighters.
Crawford worked a hard jab, maintaining a southpaw stance throughout the fight and not doing his usual stance switching, and used that jab to open up straight lefts and hard uppercuts. But Madrimov continued to make things tough, especially when he realized that Crawford was open to straight right hands.
The momentum shifted back and forth several times, with one fighter seeming to establish a flow for a few rounds before the other man would suddenly impose his own gameplan.
Ultimately, Crawford was just a little bit better than his younger opponent and took the fight on scorecards of 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113, meaning if Crawford hadn't taken the 12th round, the fight would have ended as a majority draw.
Crawford landed 95 of 433 punches to 84 of 273 for Madrimov, according to CompuBox, showcasing how close the bout was overall. Madrimov was also able to snap an 11-fight knockout streak for Crawford.
"Israil was a tough competitor," Crawford said after the fight. "I knew he was going to be tough like I said. He's real strong, he's durable, he took a lot of good shots. Like everybody knew coming into the fight, he had fast feet and good rhythm upstairs and was strong. He was waiting to counter me just like I was waiting to counter him. He fought a good fight."
Madrimov said he felt he had done enough to win and asked for a rematch. His promoter, Eddie Hearn, was more upset than Madrimov after the fight, claiming the scoring felt like the scorecards were "filled out in advance."
Crawford had been angling to continue moving up in weight, claiming he wanted a shot at Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, the superstar who is unified super middleweight champion.
After the fight, Crawford slowed down on the talk, suggesting he was still interested but not pushing hard for the bout, which Turki Alalshikh said he'd already sent an offer to Alvarez for.
"You know what I say, if the money's right, we've got to fight," Crawford said. "At the same time, he has a fight he's focused on. ... [Getting the fight is] not so important to me. It's just another milestone to greatness, I suppose. And financially-wise."
CBS Sports was with you throughout the entire way on Saturday with live results and highlights below.
Fight card, results
- Terence Crawford def. Israil Madrimov (c) via unanimous decision (116-112, 115-113, 115-113)
- Jose Valenzuela def. Isaac Cruz (c) via split decision (116-112, 113-115, 116-112)
- Andy Ruiz vs. Jarrell Miller ends in a majority draw (112-116, 114-114, 114-114)
- Martin Bakole def. Jared Anderson via fifth-round TKO
- David Morrell def. Radivoje Kalajdzic via unanimous decision (118-110, 117-111, 117-111)
- Andy Cruz def. Antonio Moran via seventh-round knockout
Crawford vs. Madrimov scorecard, live coverage
Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Crawford | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 116 |
Madrimov (c) | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 112 |
Israil Madrimov vs. Terence Crawford -- Round 12: Crawford came out hard, firing some serious heat. Madrimov missed a wild left hand and then landed a hook clean. Crawford landed back-to-back uppercuts as he kept the pressure on Madrimov. Madrimov landed a pair of lefts and then a hard right hand that Crawford clearly felt. Madrimov missed a few huge punches, trying to score a late knockout. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Crawford (116-112 Crawford)
Israil Madrimov vs. Terence Crawford -- Round 11: Madrimov landed a hard straight right. Crawford landed a pair of shots and then another left hand. Crawford popped out the jab and Mardimov landed another good straight right. Madrimov came around the guard with a hook. Madrimov came back to the right hand and then got too wild with a punch and Crawford tagged him with a good uppercut. Crawford then landed a three-punch combination. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Crawford (106-103 Crawford)
Israil Madrimov vs. Terence Crawford -- Round 10: Frawford threw a good straight left to the body. Madrimov landed the lead uppercut and then ate a hard left uppercut from Crawford in return. Crawford landed a good jab and then right hook. Crawford landed another left hand and then a jab and left hand again. Madrimov landed two more right hands and Crawford responded with a good jab. Madrimov landed a hook. A good right straight counter landed for Madrimov after a body shot from Crawford. Another close round. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Crawford (96-94 Crawford)
Israil Madrimov vs. Terence Crawford -- Round 9: Crawford landed a short left hand and shoved Madrimov into the ropes. Crawford snapped out a few jabs and Madrimov landed the right hand. Crawford dug in with another good uppercut and then ate a right hand from Madrimov. Another one of those rights got in and then a stiff jab. A sweeping hook landed for Madrimov as he continued to just find his rhythm. Madrimov really leaned on the right hand in the round and Crawford kept throwing his jab and occasionally landing a power shot. Another solid round for the champ. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Madrimov (86-85 Crawford)
Israil Madrimov vs. Terence Crawford -- Round 8: Madrimov landed a hook and went back to that punch again. He then came with three right hands, drawing Crawford to stick his tongue out and do a little shimmy. Madrivmov came around the guard with another hook and then Crawford fired some hard shots back in return. Madrimov kept going to the lead hook in the round and then a big counter right hand. Really good Madrimov round to stop the bleeding of the past few rounds. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Madrimov (77-75 Crawford)
Israil Madrimov vs. Terence Crawford -- Round 7: Crawford opened with a strong jab. Crawford countered a Madrimov shot with a right hook and looping left combination. Madrimov landed his own counter right, forcing Crawford to circle away and fire another jab. Crawford ripped back-to-back body shots late in the round. Not a ton of action in the frame but seemingly enough for Crawford to get another one. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Crawford (68-65 Crawford)
Israil Madrimov vs. Terence Crawford -- Round 6: Crawford threw a good four-punch combination, landing a few of those shots early in the round. Madrimov landed another good right straight but got hit with a hard jab and then a left hand from Crawford. They trade shots in close with Crawford getting the better of it and then landing a few body shots before the end of the round. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Crawford (58-56 Crawford)
Israil Madrimov vs. Terence Crawford -- Round 5: Crawford remained in a southpaw stance despite Madrimov having had so much success with the right hand in the previous round. Madrimov landed a lunging hook around the guard and Crawford popped out a straight left hand and then a jab. Crawford hit the canvas but it was a result of legs getting tangled and Crawford tripping. Madrimov landed a big right hand and another seconds later. Another right hand and then an uppercut from Madrimov. Neither man has grabbed full control of the fight yet and Madrimov is holding his own. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Madrimov (48-47 Crawford)
Israil Madrimov vs. Terence Crawford -- Round 4: Crawford shot the jab out several times before Madrimov threw his own straight right hand. Madrimov landed a pair of solid right hands, feeling comfortable with that punch in the round. Another one landed for Madrimov and Crawford missed a big right of his own. Madrimov again landed a hard right and Crawford responded with another uppercut. Madrimov seemed to be very comfortable in the round and landed another right hand late in the round. Much better round for Madrimov and he may have edged it out. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Madrimov (39-37 Crawford)
Israil Madrimov vs. Terence Crawford -- Round 3: Crawford started the round a bit more active, popping off a nice three punch combination followed by a lead uppercut. A stiff jab landed for Crawford as Madrimov continued to be very measured in his movement and feints. Madrimov landed a good right hand and then a jab but Crawford landed a hard left uppercut counter. Madrimov landed a hard jab but simply isn't doing enough in these early rounds to get the nod. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Crawford (30-27)
Israil Madrimov vs. Terence Crawford -- Round 2: Madrimov continued working his way forward, throwing a few jabs and trying to back Crawford down. Crawford still was the man who was getting off his punches faster and more accurately. Madrimov landed a pair of good right hands, leaving Crawford shaking his head. Crawford landed a hard straight left to the body before ripping two wide body shots a second later. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Crawford (20-18)
Israil Madrimov vs. Terence Crawford -- Round 1: Crawford switched stances in the early moments of the fight. He then began to pop out a few jabs, seemingly just to get a feel for timing and distance. Madrimov dipped down to throw a jab to the body and glanced a right hand off of Crawford's face. Madrimov slowly moved forward, cutting off the ring and forcing Crawford back to the corner where he popped off a few jabs. Crawford kept flicking out punches and stringing them together when he felt he had the timing right. Slow start to the fight but a Crawford round. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Crawford
Crawford and Madrimov are in the ring, national anthems are finishing up, then it's fighter introductions and final referee instructions and we will finally have arrived at the night's main event.
The Eminem concert is over and Madrimov and Crawford are about to make their ring walks.
There is still an Eminem concert among some other non-boxing things before we get to the main event.
Official result: Jose Valenzuela def. Isaac Cruz via split decision (116-112, 113-115, 116-112) to win the WBA junior welterweight championship. A big upset in this one.
Isaac Cruz vs. Jose Valenzuela -- Round 12: It's anyone's guess -- other than the three ringside judges -- what the final scorecards will read. Highly-competitive, closely-fought bout and it will come down to what each judge liked in several tight rounds.
Isaac Cruz vs. Jose Valenzuela -- Round 10-11: Valenzuela may be pulling away on the scorecards. He's been extremely effective after the opening rounds, landing clean punches and using movement to keep Cruz off of him, getting trapped along the ropes far less. There have been many very close rounds throughout, which could sway the judges one direction or the other if we reach the scorecards. Valenzuela was having a very good Round 11 but then had to survive a big Cruz flurry in the final seconds which could, again, sway the judges.
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