By Alan Dawson in Los Angeles
Team Madrimov appears to downplay Terence Crawford’s signature win over Errol Spence Jr.
In a fight that neutral observers had deemed as close to a 50:50 fight that boxing can produce, Crawford showed that there are levels between what he brings to the ring, and an accomplished champion, as he delivered a ruthless, brutal beatdown for the ages in Las Vegas, last July.
With the win, Crawford became the undisputed welterweight world champion and scored arguably the one triumph that he’ll long be remembered for.
Yet Hearn told Boxing News this week that it wasn’t that impressive as Spence “was shot to bits.”
Spence, 33 at the time, had beaten a who’s who of big-name welterweights during his run as a champion, including Kell Brook, Shawn Porter, and Yordenis Ugas. His performances verged on brilliant but on July 29 2023 he seemed to save his worst display for Crawford.
“I don’t really take too much from that fight,” said Hearn. “I take more from everything else he’s done.
“He’s getting on a little bit but he’s very, very good, and lived the perfect life for an athlete. I don’t think it will be time that catches up to him,” Hearn told us, “it will be the weight that catches up to him.”
Crawford won his first major world championship in 2014 when he out-pointed Ricky Burns to gain the WBO lightweight title. Since then, he’s won unifications, world titles at super lightweight, and cleared 147 of its best champion, too.
It remains to be seen whether 154 will be a weight class too far, but on recent form, it seems unlikely. “Maybe 54 is not too big of a jump,” Hearn acknowledges, but then points to what he sees as the deciding factor — Madrimov. “He’s a pound-for-pound beast who punches hard,” said Hearn of the Uzbek bruiser.
Hearn isn’t the only one who doesn’t hold too much value in Crawford’s slaughter of Spence.
“I think Spence is very good and one of the best pound-for-pound fighters,” Madrimov’s manager Vadim Kornilov told Boxing News, “but I don’t think Spence was at his best that night.”
Kornilov added: “That made the fight easier for Crawford.”
Madrimov, Kornilov said, won’t make the same mistakes. “He’s the complete package without the mental negatives.”
The Crawford vs Madrimov fight takes place Saturday at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, topping a Riyadh Season and Matchroom event that airs on DAZN PPV, PPV.com, and Prime Video.