Promoter Eddie Hearn revealed today that the weigh-in for the Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov event will be at 9 pm this Friday for Saturday’s event on August 3rd at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles and live on DAZN.
Hearn says the Crawford-Madrimov weigh-in will be outdoors in LA. It’s so late on Friday evening because they want it to be “an event” with music to get people involved.
Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs), the WBA junior middleweight champion, is the underdog against Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs), but Hearn likes his fighter, Madrimov’s chances of pulling off the upset against the 36-year-old.
Crawford is moving up to 154 for the first time after coming off an extended layoff since July 2023 and fighting a guy who fights an unorthodox style as he does. Madrimov is slower than Crawford and less experienced as a professional. However, he punches harder, is considerably younger at 29, and is more active with his career.
Hearn doesn’t say the plan for Madrimov if he’s victorious on Saturday night. If he beats Crawford, many boxing fans will call for him to face Canelo Alvarez in 2025. However, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh seems to have his sights set on Crawford fighting Canelo in 2025, and he might stick with that plan, even if Terence loses to Madrimov.
It wouldn’t be the ideal way for Crawford to get the Canelo fight. Still, the Mexican star has been fighting lesser opposition lately with his matches against Edgar Berlanga, Jaime Munguia, and John Ryder.
If Crawford backs into a fight against Canelo with a loss to Madrimov, it would be keeping with the Mexican star’s recent less-than-thrilling matchups.
“Thursday, you got the press conference at the Chinese theater. It’s going to be stunning. Friday, at 9:00 p.m, you’ve got the weigh-in outdoors in LA, because obviously the official weigh-in is earlier in the day,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV about the Terence Crawford vs. Ismail Madrimov weigh-in.
Staging the Crawford-Madrimov weigh-in late on Friday will make it interesting for East Coast fans, who would have to stay up late to watch it. It’s great for West Coast fans because it would catch them when they’re off work.
“It’s going to be an unbelievable crowd,” said Hearn when asked why the weigh-in is so late in the evening on Friday. “Why do it at five or six? Why not do it as an event at night with music and get people interacting?”
It will be interesting to see what kind of crowd will be at the weigh-in on Friday because this is such a massive event. Crawford’s fans are mostly in the state of Nebraska, and Madrimov is still unknown to U.S. fans.
It wouldn’t be surprising if most of the fans that show up at the weigh-in will be coming to see Isaac Cruz and Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela, who some feel should be the real main event on Saturday’s card.
“On Saturday, it’s an eight-fight card. It’s unbelievable. So, from top to bottom, promotion, fight week activity. It’s the biggest thing I’ve been involved with in America, and I can’t wait. I think it’s a brilliant card,” said Hearn.
Eddie Is right about Saturday’s fight card. It’s incredible, and easily one of the best boxing has seen in many years.
Saturday’s fight card:
- Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov
- Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz vs. Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela
- Jared Anderson vs. Martin Bakole
- David Morrell vs. Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic
- Andy Cruz vs. Antonio Moran
- Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Jarrell Miller
“Madrimov is not a household name. You don’t have to be polite about it. He’s an unbelievable fighter. He’s a world champion who is on his way to establishing himself in the sport. When he won the world title in Saudi [against Magomed Kurbanov last March in Riyadh], we never expected him to fight Terence Crawford,” said Hearn.
It was luck on Madrimov’s part to get the Crawford fight because Sebastian Fundora was Bud’s original target to fight for a world title at 154. Fundora chose Errol Spence, resulting in Crawford going with his second choice, Madrimov to try and win a world title at 154.
“We were going to have two or three defenses, maybe look for a unification and fight Tim Tszyu or Errol Spence. Crawford comes along, and it’s one of those tough decisions. In terms of maneuvering Madrimov, it’s probably not the fight you’d look for. But in terms of the opportunity, in terms of the money, in terms of the legacy, and in terms of the belief of the team, he accepted it. ”
The money Madrimov will make for the Crawford fight is far more than what he would have gotten fighting Tszyu, Sebastian Fundora, or Errol Spence. Turki Alalshikh has built a massive undercard for Saturday’s Crawford-Madrimov fight, and we likely wouldn’t have seen that if Madrimov had fought those other guys.
“Not, ‘Oh, it’s a few quid.’ He accepted it as in, ‘I can win this fight.’ [Madrimov’s trainer] Joel Diaz, ‘We think we can win this fight.’”
This is Madrimov’s Super Bowl on Saturday, and a victory over Crawford would transform him into a big name in the sport. Even if Madrimov doesn’t get the Canelo fight, a rematch with Crawford is a given. The Nebraska native has too much pride not to try to avenge the loss against Madrimov.
