The Real Winners and Losers From Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov Card

The Real Winners and Losers From Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov Card0 of 6

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Every now and then, a fighter changes the definitions.

Terence Crawford is that fighter.

The affable Nebraskan began his career 16 years ago as a 20-year-old kid and has gradually added layers to his reputation, winning belts in three weight classes and convincing people who know what they’re looking at that he’s one of the sport’s current and generational elites.

Crawford remains a champion of two sanctioning bodies at 147 pounds but he decided to pursue greatness in another manner this weekend, climbing up the ladder to 154 pounds to challenge WBA title claimant Israil Madrimov for a fourth career weight class title.

The B/R combat team was in place to take it all in from BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, where Crawford’s quest topped a six-bout pay-per-view card that included another title fight at 140 and a couple intriguing heavyweight bouts between recognizable fighters.

We delivered a real-time list of the show’s definitive winners and losers and invite you to take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought in the comments.

Loser: Superstar Showdowns1 of 6

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So, errr…about that Canelo Alvarez fight.

Though Terence Crawford’s challenge of the four-division champion and longtime pay-per-view stalwart has been an interesting talking point since “Bud” began to suggest a few months ago that he’d be interested in the opportunity, it lost a bit of steam Saturday night.

Crawford did complete his business trip to Los Angeles with an acquisition of Israil Madrimov’s WBA super welterweight title belt, but a slim competitive margin against a 154-pounder with only 10 pro fights did little to suggest climbing another 14 pounds is wise.

Especially when it’d be Alvarez, with 61 pro wins in a 19-year career, waiting for him.

And though the new four-division champion claimed to still have interest in the super fight in Saturday’s aftermath, to suggest it was a do-or-die quest would be quite a stretch.

Instead, he boiled it down to a matter of money more than anything.

“If the money’s right, we got a fight,” Crawford said. “At the same time, (Canelo’s) got a fight that he’s focused on and I’m gonna go back to my family.”

Turki Alalshikh, whose Saudi entertainment authority promoted the inaugural U.S.-based Riyadh Season fight card, said he’s already made Alvarez’s team an offer and the ball is in the Mexican superstar’s court.

Analyst Sergio Mora poured water on the idea and suggested another two-division climb would be “too much” for Crawford to handle, while “Bud” said the performance against Madrimov, though less dominant than usual, wasn’t an accurate barometer.

“I’m pretty sure (Madrimov) could fight at 168. This guy is big,” he said. “It’s just another milestone to greatness.”

Loser: Planning Ahead2 of 6

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The crowd came to see a monster movie. It witnessed an art exhibition.

Long, lanky challenger Jose Valenzuela climbed the weight class ladder to get a shot at defending and heavily favored 140-pound champion Isaac Cruz, but few expected him to be more than a speed bump to the titleholder’s rematch with Gervonta Davis.

Instead, the 5’10” southpaw used his length, his footwork and his ring smarts to consistently keep the ferocious “Pitbull” at a safe distance, evading most of Cruz’s power shots and handling the ones that did land on the way to a surprise split-decision win.

Two judges gave Valenzuela a 116-112 margin, or 8-4 in rounds. The dissenting judge saw it 115-113, or seven rounds to five, in Cruz’s favor. The B/R card leaned toward the majority and saw Valenzuela up by a 7-5 count.

Cruz, who was clearly the favorite of a partisan L.A. crowd, disagreed.

“Listen to this crowd, they’re the judge of all this, not me,” he said. “I’d like to officially request a rematch. I’d definitely like to throw that down now.”

Cruz, who’d won his belt from Rolly Romero in his last fight four months ago, was a decision loser to the aforementioned Davis when they met in 2021. Each side had discussed the idea of a rematch, and it certainly would have had more zeroes attached to it thanks to Davis’ subsequent climb to the consensus pound-for-pound elite.

Cruz had won four straight with three KOs before Saturday’s loss.

Meanwhile, Valenzuela started his career with 12 straight wins before dropping consecutive decisions to Edwin De Los Santos (KO 3) and Chris Colbert (UD 10) across six months bridging 2022 and 2023. He bounced back to stop Colbert in six rounds in December in his most recent fight before Cruz.

“I didn’t get desperate. I stayed calm,” Valenzuela said. “(His power was) nothing crazy. Nothing I’ve never felt. It was solid. But I felt like I was in control the whole time with my jab and my footwork.”

Winner: Super Heavyweights3 of 6

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No, these are not your father’s heavyweights.

Given the dimensions of the best fighters in the sport’s big-boy division these days, it’s hard to comprehend just how big a size gap some noteworthy champions of the past—like Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson—would face if they were active in 2024.

The members of that trio weighed 221, 222.25 and 219 pounds, respectively, in the last successful title fights of their careers, which stretched from 1960 to 2005 and wound up with each of them on plaques at the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

But to say they’d have been up against it on Saturday night is an understatement.

A huge one.

Congo-born slugger Martin Bakole, who measures in at a gargantuan 6’6″ and 284.5 pounds, was the biggest revelation (literally) of the two-fight heavyweight portion of the Saturday show with a punishing KO of Jared Anderson—no small fry himself at 6’4″ and 252.5—that featured three knockdowns before the “Real Big Baby” was stopped standing in Round 5.

Bakole moved forward consistently and absorbed some legitimate return fire from Anderson while doing so, but ultimately won the day with his own heavy hands that have yielded 16 KOs in 21 pro wins, including eight in 10 fights since his only loss.

“I’m the most avoided man in the world,” Bakole, who arrived as The Ring’s 10th-ranked heavyweight, said. “I planned it. I said it. And I did it. I came here to work. This is my work.

“We came all the way from Scotland to take over in America. I’m a machine. I’m in this sport to take over. With his excellency (Turki Alalshikh, whose Saudi entertainment authority promoted the show), I can get any fight I want.”

Loser: Morrell Momentum4 of 6

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He was a loser in the Canelo Alvarez sweepstakes, but David Morrell is at least trying to make the most out of necessary change in weight classes.

The 26-year-old had spent his first four-plus professional years climbing the ranks at 168 pounds but when he was unable to secure a fight with the Mexican pay-per-view stalwart or his countryman David Benavidez, he ditched the second-tier WBA bauble he’d been carrying, added seven pounds to a lanky, muscular frame and adjusted his aim.

The target of choice for Saturday became Serbian light heavyweight gatekeeper Radivoje Kalajdzic, who’d been finished in five rounds by KO machine Artur Beterbiev in 2019 but had bounced back with five straight victories to earn a chance to scuttle Morrell’s plans.

And scuttle them he, well…just might have done going forward.

Though Morrell earned the decision and another piece of WBA nonsense with it, his aura took a broadside hit in each of the several rounds his fundamentally superior foe let go with precise counters as Morrell leapt toward him with wide hooks and flailing uppercuts.

Against middling foes at 168, those looping shots landed and victims piled up.

Against sturdier opposition at 175, they won’t. And unless he finds a way to navigate those vast technical waters, the show pony will struggle badly against the best.

Winner: Prodigious Progress5 of 6

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Andy Cruz is most certainly on the fast track.

The 2020 Olympic gold medalist turned pro barely a year ago against an ex-title challenger, though admittedly an aging one, in Juan Carlos Burgos, and had since won twice more against foes with a combined pro record of 40-7-1 with 24 KOs.

So while a fourth victory over rugged 31-year-old gatekeeper Antonio Moran, whose opponent list includes two-division champ Devin Haney, was expected by most, it’s no less impressive that a guy with 13 months on his odometer could get it done at all.

He’s got fast hands, quick feet, obvious ring IQ and a motor that can rev over 10 rounds, though he began beating a one-sided drumbeat on a bloodied Moran in the seventh and had the Mexican stumbling drunkenly across the ring into a stoppage at 2:59 of the round.

The 28-year-old with the Cuban amateur pedigree was a four-time winner on that level over prized prospect Keyshawn Davis, and both he and promoter Eddie Hearn have suggested another get together on the punch-for-pay level is possible if Team Davis wants it.

Or, perhaps another marquee opponent is on his mind.

“I managed to show I’m at this level. This is not a ceiling for me. I can go higher than this,” said Cruz, who eyeballed lightweight champ Shakur Stevenson at ringside after the fight. “I just want to keep testing myself against the best.”

Full Card Results6 of 6

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Main Card

Terence Crawford def. Israil Madrimov by unanimous decision (116-112, 115-113, 115-113)

Jose Valenzuela def. Isaac Cruz by split decision (116-112, 113-115, 116-112)

Jarrell Miller v Andy Ruiz ruled majority draw (116-112, 114-114, 114-114)

Martin Bakole def. Jared Anderson by KO, 2:07, Round 5

David Morrell def. Radivoje Kalajdzic by unanimous decision (118-110, 117-111, 117-111)

Andy Cruz def. Antonio Moran by TKO, 2:59, Round 7