Crawford Says Madrimov Fight “Feels Bigger” Than Spence, But Fans Disagree

Trent Crawford says his fight with Israel Madrimov “feels bigger” than his last one against Errol Spence in 2023.

(Photo credit: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing)

The Undercard Is Over The Main Event

A more accurate comment would be the undercard of this Saturday, August 3, Riyadh Season event, which is bigger than the Spence-Crawford card, but the main event is not on that level.

Spence was the real draw for the PPV, while Crawford was just a WBO welterweight title holder who had captured the 135-lb and 140-lb belts but failed to gain any traction with the fans due to the level of competition he faced. to win those belts.

Despite Crawford’s victory over Spence, he is still not a crossover star, and much of that affects his fighting style. He is a boxer, the fans of this era want to see entertaining fights.

Gervonta Davis is the gold standard of entertainment. Crawford is still a relic of the past, still using a pure boxing style that today’s fans consider unsightly and unworthy of attention.

Terence still uses the old safe style of play that he started his career with 16 years ago in 2008, and the younger fans are not interested in that dull approach. He is still not used to the excitement of young fans who want to move and who want to entertain in and out of the ring.

They want their money’s worth, and Crawford, a relic of the past, isn’t giving that to new fans. Fighters like Jaron Ennis and Tank Davis provide value.

Crawford says his fight with Spence was more “in the urban community.” In contrast, his clash with WBA junior middleweight champion Madrimov on Saturday drew more attention from fans of “different races and cultures.”

People on social media disagree with Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs). They pointed out that the tickets for Spence’s fight last year were off the shelf when they fought at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Ticket Sales and Fan Interest

That doesn’t happen with Crawford’s fight against Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. Commentator Tim Bradley feels that tickets are not selling well for the Crawford-Madrimov event. Whose fault is that?

You can’t blame the undercard because it’s arguably the best the US has seen in 30 years, since the 1980s.

“I feel like he’s never faced a fight like me that can do a lot of things that can change his game plan,” said Terence Crawford speaking to DAZN Boxing, talking about his ability to give a different approach to WBA junior middleweight champion Israel Madrimov on Saturday night. Los Angeles.

“I said to him, ‘When you’re free, that’s when you make mistakes. That’s where I spend the money,” said Crawford.

Crawford’s Crucial Audition for the Canelo Fight

I hope Crawford doesn’t choose to punch, move, and hold too much in this fight because the fans are paying a lot of money to see this. This fight is undoubtedly an audition for Crawford to land a mega-clash against superstar Canelo Alvarez in 2025.

Crawford not only has to make a plan to entertain his fans to give them their money, but he also has to show Canelo that he deserves to fight.

“This feels bigger than the Errol Spence fight. Errol Spence’s fight was big in the urban community because it was something that had been talked about for five years. “When you look around, you see different races and cultures that is huge in itself,” said Crawford when asked to compare his fight with Madrimov to his previous fight against Spence who was the United Welterweight champion in July 2023.

Crawford Should Have Chosen Ennis Boots

Many fans in the US do not know who Madrimov is. He picked the wrong guy to raise his profile after his win over Spence.

Crawford should have accepted Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis’ challenge to fight him because that would resonate with American fans. They know who you are, and that’s the match they want to see. Madrimov is not there.

I’m not sure if it’s Crawford’s fear of Boot Ennis or it’s just a twisted thing where he doesn’t want to help a young boxer because he wasn’t given a boost early in his career.

Whatever caused Crawford to choose Madrimov over Boot has hurt his career because the fans don’t enjoy the game. Again, they like the undercard, but that’s not enough to sell Saturday’s fight.

The main event is to pull the promotion, and Turki should have insisted that Crawford fight the Boots. Otherwise, remove the fight between Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz and Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela from the main event and bury the Crawford-Madrimov match on the undercard below the Andy Ruiz vs. Jarrell Miller.

Turki Investments and Crawford’s Complaint

“I can’t go anywhere without seeing the Riyadh Season poster, the Crawford-Madrimov poster. “You can’t go anywhere without seeing a war, that’s what makes it great,” said Crawford.

Turki and the organizers put a lot of effort into this event to ensure its success. That doesn’t mean fans are excited to see Crawford, who isn’t on PPV, fight Madrimov in the main event.

Crawford needs a superstar as his opponent to attract fans, including fighters like Boot Ennis, Spence, and Canelo. Terence is not a big enough star to bring in fans who fight against unknowns like Madrimov. He needed Boots or Canelo to attract fans.

Ideally, Crawford should take a big risk by fighting David Benavidez or David Morrell. By putting himself in a position where he was expected to lose, which never happened, Crawford would increase his star power and attract a larger audience.

Crawford is the heavy favorite over the lesser-known Madrimov for Saturday’s fight, and fans consider it his favorite. That is not fair for ticket sales or PPV purchases.

“I hope that Turki will continue to do big games like this in America as well as in Saudi,” said Crawford.

The Honorable Turki Alalshikh cannot force Canelo to fight Crawford by giving him a lot of money because he is already rich and will continue to bring in billions no matter who he fights for the rest of his career. Canelo doesn’t need Crawford to make money.

So Crawford must forget about boxing and focus on fighting Madrimov in the center of the ring on Saturday night. That means Crawford must resist his usual tendency to use these tactics to win:

– It’s going
– Catching & grappling
– Laughter
– Variation
– Retreating when attacked