BOXING
Boxing

Terence Crawford reaches 41-0 and a new belt in extremely difficult bout v Israil Madrimov

Terence Crawford had a close call and really gambled his perfect record against Israil Madrimov

Madrimov fights Crawford
Madrimov vs CrawfordLAPRESSE
Actualizado

The WBA Super Welterweight held by Uzbekistan champion Israil Madrimov was challenged on Saturday but the experienced Terence Crawford, who is considered the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world. Currently, Craford is the unified welterweight champion of the world and he decided to go down a weight class in order to try and get a new kind of belt. Right after the tremendous upset of Jose Valenzuela against Isaac 'Pitbull' Cruz, rapper Eminem played a handful of songs at BMO Arena in Los Angeles. Everything was ready for the main event of the evening between Israil Madrimov vs Terence Crawford. Everything was ready for the gran fight everybody came to see. Could Crawford claim a new belt for himself against a relatively inexperienced Madrimov?

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Crawford makes history against Madrimov

During the first five rounds, both Terence Crawford and Israil Madrimov were extremely cautious with each other. Those who thought Terence would have an easy fight were wrong as Madrimov made great reading decisions of Crawford's movements. Until that moment, there was no clear superior opponent. At exactly the start of Round 5, Crawford started getting more jabs to the body on Madrimov. The fight certainly wasn't easy for Crawford, who was finally getting inside the ring with a worthy opponent who can make him flex his fighting IQ muscles. the champ had 11 straight wins by KO but tonight's rival seemed like he could braek that streak.

During the second half of the fight, Terence Crawford improved considerably but we still had a really close fight. The championship rounds had Crawford deliver more direct punches while Madrimov landed a few less than that. With the three judges keeping their scorecards close to their chest, nobody wanted to be them at the end of the 12 rounds. This is the first time in 8 years Crawford had to go the distance in order to get a victory. He got the unanimous decision and maintained his undefeated run. And he is now the new WBA Light Welterweight division. Crawford is now a champion in four different divisions. Kudos to Madrimov who held his own against the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

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