Terence Crawford revealed a bold, yet effective reason for why he has decided to face WBA super-welterweight champion Israil Madrimov as their highly-anticipated fight this summer was made official.
Crawford will look to become world champion in yet another weight class when he steps up to 154lbs to face Madrimov in Los Angeles on August 3rd, in what will be the first Riyadh Season event to take place outside of Saudi Arabia.
For Crawford, it will be his first action since becoming undisputed welterweight champion last July, putting on a masterclass to stop long-term rival Errol Spence Jr in Las Vegas.
The planned rematch didn’t materialise due to an eye injury suffered by Spence, meaning ‘Bud’ was free to seek out other potential opponents.
He has opted to face Magomed Kurbanov, who won the vacant WBA title in March when he stopped Magomed Kurbanov in the fifth round on the Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou card.
Crawford and Madrimov met at their launch press conference in New York on Wednesday to officially announce their contest, and Crawford had a defiant message for why he has decided to get into the ring with Madrimov.
“I consider Israil best 154 pounder in the division right now, so why not go for the top guy in the division right off the bat. I want to leave a legacy that’s never been left before, inside and outside of the ring.”
It is set to be a stellar card put on by Saudi chief Turki Alalshikh in August, which also includes Issac Cruz defending his WBA super-lightweight title against Jose Valenzuela and Andy Ruiz returning from a long absence to meet Jarrell Miller in a heavyweight contest.
Tim Tszyu will also compete on the card following his narrow loss to Sebastian Fundora last month, as he goes up against Vergil Ortiz, provided Ortiz is first victorious when he faces Thomas Dulorme this Saturday.
Two more fights that were unexpected were revealed at the press conference on Wednesday, as David Morrell fights Radivoje Kalajdzic for the vacant WBA regular light-heavyweight title, and Andy Cruz goes up against Antonio Moran.
The event in August is another major statement of intent from Alalshikh, with Saudi Arabia already playing host to two massive events over the next two months.
First up is the undisputed heavyweight title fight as Tyson Fury takes on Oleksandr Usyk on May 18, before Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol face off for the undisputed light-heavyweight titles on June 1, with the Matchroom vs. Queensberry 5 on 5 on that card too.
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