Terence Crawford, ESPN’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, will go up to 154 pounds to challenge Israil Madrimov for his WBA junior middleweight title Aug. 3 in Los Angeles, sources informed ESPN.
The occasion will exist by Riyadh Season under His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, the chair of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority in association with Sela Sport. There will be a press conference Wednesday in New York to reveal the bout.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has actually made a significant dedication to boxing considering that 2019, when it staged the Anthony Joshua-Andy Ruiz heavyweight champion rematch. The kingdom’s interest in boxing grew greatly when Alalshikh got in the fray in 2015 with October’s Tyson Fury-Francis Ngannou fight in the capital city of Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia went on to stage a December card including previous heavyweight champs Joshua and Deontay Wilder, then a March fight in between Joshua and Ngannou. The kingdom will provide its 2 most significant battles yet over the next 2 months: the Fury-Oleksandr Usyk undeniable heavyweight champion bout May 18 and the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol undeniable light heavyweight champion bout June 1.
Both of those battles will occur in Riyadh. Now, Saudi Arabian authorities are branching off with their very first boxing occasion beyond the kingdom with Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) as he wants to end up being a four-division champ vs. Madrimov.
This occasion will be the very first in collaboration with Crawford, who is from Omaha, Nebraska. And it will be his very first fight considering that his ninth-round TKO success over Errol Spence in July to end up being the undeniable welterweight champ. Crawford, 36, will be making his 154-pound launching.
Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) won the WBA title when he scored a fifth-round TKO success over Magomed Kurbanov last month in Riyadh on the undercard of Joshua-Ngannou.
Madrimov, a 29-year-old Uzbek, is ESPN’s No. 3 junior middleweight. It was reported Thursday that Jermell Charlo, the previous undeniable junior middleweight champ, had actually petitioned for an instant chance at Madrimov as WBA champ in recess.
TGB Promotions, the promoter of PBC occasions, sent out a letter to the WBA on Thursday (gotten by ESPN) clarifying that Charlo has no objection to Crawford conference Madrimov initially.
“[Charlo] thus demands to be renewed as the WBA extremely champ at 154 pounds. We likewise desire you to understand that Jermell has no issue with Israil Madrimov protecting his routine title against Terence Crawford this summer season.”
The “routine” title utilized by the WBA is a secondary belt. The WBA hasn’t made a judgment yet. Charlo is aiming to return later on this fall, with Tim Tszyu, Sebastian Fundora and Spence possibilities, sources stated.
Charlo hasn’t contended at 154 pounds considering that May 2022, when he beat Brian Castaño in a rematch. Charlo combated in September at 168 pounds, a wide-points loss to Canelo Alvarez for the undeniable extremely middleweight champion.
This will not be the last boxing match provided by Saudi Arabia outside the kingdom. Eddie Hearn, who promotes Madrimov, and Frank Warren stated Monday in London that the strategy requires the Saudis to hold a fight in September at Wembley Stadium including Joshua vs. the winner of the June 1 Filip Hrgović-Daniel Dubois fight.
Hrgović-Dubois, on the Beterbiev-Bivol undercard, is anticipated to be objected to for the uninhabited IBF title after the Fury-Usyk winner gives up the belt.
