Madrimov ‘Ice Cold’ And Ready For Crawford Upset, Aims To Consolidate 154-lb Division

Promoter Eddie Hearn says Israel Madrimov is “ice cold” ahead of tonight’s fight with Terence Crawford on DAZN PPV.

Hearn says WBA junior middleweight champion Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) is ready to drop Crawford from his first career loss, then move on to a fight to unify the other belt holders at 154.

Unlike Crawford, Madrimov is not greedy and will not be looking to move up to 168 to fight Canelo Alvarez. He is content to stay at junior middleweight and face other champions to collect belts.

Crawford’s Desires for Canelo May Survive Defeat

Crawford will probably still get the Canelo fight, even if he loses tonight. Honorable Turki Alalshikh is partial to Crawford and wants to see him fight Canelo, but it may not matter if he returns to action after the loss.

During Friday’s weigh-in, you could see how strong Madrimov looked compared to Crawford. His body had Artur Beterbiev-type muscles, and he could be a nightmare for Crawford if he landed on him often enough.

Madrimov’s last opponent, Magomed Kurbanov was more powerful than Crawford, and was stopped in five rounds. That was an amazing performance from Madrimov.

“He looks beautiful. He’s like me in my pants,” said Eddie Hearn at Fighthype when asked how Terence Crawford looks at 154 in his fight with Israel Madrimov. “It will be a big fight.

“Madrimov is a tank, he is a machine and he is ready. We have a big challenge, but we are ready. Madrimov is very cold. He’s not scared at all. There’s no fear or anything, but you’re dealing with a pound-for-pound giant.”

Tonight, Madrimov may be 175 lbs when he enters the ring, and that is a lot of weight that Crawford will be facing. He’s never fought anyone with that kind of size or strength before, and he may not be ready.

“We are happy to stay at 154. Fight back [Vergil] Ortiz, fight Tim Tszyu, or fight other champions, but we have a lot of work to do,” said Hearn when asked if Madrimov would like to move up to 168 to fight Canelo Alvarez if he wins Crawford.

It’s best that Madrimov doesn’t try to move up to 168 because there are weight classes for a reason, and there’s no point in moving up unless the Mexican star invites.

If Canelo wants to fight Madrimov next, he can invite him, and he will probably oblige. But the worst thing Madrimov could do is start begging or promoting a fight with Alvarez, which some boxing fans believe Crawford has been doing shamelessly.

“Bud might keep some of that energy that might work for him against this young, hungry fighter in front of him,” said Shawn Porter talking to DAZN Boxing about Crawford possibly having problems if he were to keep his energy against Madrimov.

Madrimov’s Physical Superiority Is Evident

Crawford could box Madrimov, holding and keeping him on the outside all night to keep him out.

“Madrimov looks strong,” said Ade Oladipo.

“You can see his body is muscular,” Porter said of Madrimov.

“You can tell by their size, Madrimov is a big fighter, and he is a complete fighter,” Sergio Mora said.