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Crawford’s age and weight jump could spell disaster for Madrimov

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Image: Israil Madrimov Confident He Will Exploit Terence Crawford's Weaknesses

Israil Madrimov’s trainer, Joel Diaz, believes the combination of Terence Crawford’s age (37) and weight move to 154 pounds will have a disastrous effect on his performance on Saturday night when he faces Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) for the WBA junior middleweight world title at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.

Preparing for Crawford’s wrestling

Diaz believes Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) is trying his luck against Madrimov, who is hydrating to the mid-170s and is robust at that weight. The 5’8″ Madrimov is huge with a stocky build and strength that are better suited for the 168-pound division than 154.

Joel says Madrimov has been training with wrestlers for this camp, which is intelligent for him. A huge part of Crawford’s game is fighting opponents in the clinch to wear them down and land punches at close range.

If we take that away from Crawford, he has one less advantage in this fight, as he is already at a disadvantage in terms of strength, youth, and size.

“Israil is ready for whatever Crawford brings. We touched on a lot of the robust points that Terence Crawford brings to the fight,” said coach Joel Diaz Probox TV about his fighter Israil Madrimov, who trained what Terence Crawford does best ahead of their fight this coming Saturday, August 3rd.

Crawford’s mobility has decreased significantly with age, and he primarily relies on straight punches, ranged strikes and the clinch to win fights.

He likes to lean against the ropes to operate them to support his tired legs, then deliver tiny punches from the inside. For obvious reasons, he’s gotten away with it with Errol Spence, David Avanesyan, and Shawn Porter. Those guys are pretty elderly now.

“Crawford has never fought in this weight class [154]”He’s a former lightweight who’s coming up through the ranks,” said boxing expert Paulie Malignaggi.

Crawford’s sparring with 40-year-old Andre Ward was nearly useless to him, as it won’t lend a hand him adjust to fighting a 154-pound knockout artist like Israil Madrimov, who will be a solid 175-pounder tonight. Ward hadn’t fought in years and looked like he had Elvis’s abs.

Crawford’s Age and Worsening Skills

“You know what age does. We get older and obviously he’s not the same,” coach Diaz said of how the soon-to-be 37-year-old Crawford isn’t the same player because of his age.

You only need to watch elderly footage of Crawford’s 2018 fight with Jeff Horn and compare it to his last fight with Errol Spence Jr. in July 2023 to know that Terence is not the same fighter. He is not Benjamin Button who is getting older, and he certainly has not discovered the fountain of youth from which he restores his youth.

“Crawford hasn’t fought many wars, but every fight has its justification [camp]and every camp is exhausted. He’s 37. There are many things that give me hope besides the training and the boxing schedule that we have. He comes in at 154.”

It doesn’t matter that Crawford hasn’t fought many wars due to frail opposition, because he is a 37-year-old fighter and has suffered a lot during his training camps.

Even without wars, a person approaching 40 is practically a fossil in the sport. Boxing is a sport for the adolescent, and it’s even worse when a fighter takes a year off after each fight, as Crawford routinely does.

“He was great at 135, 140 and 147. He’s moving up to another weight class, 154. Madrimov is a solid 154. He’s moving up to a solid 175, 175. We’ll see how Crawford’s punches affect [the bigger, stronger, and younger 29-year-old] “Israil Madrimov,” Diaz said.

Diaz makes no mention of the opponents Crawford faced at 135, 140 and 147, mostly a collection of survivors heading into the final round.

Questionable quality of Crawford’s previous opposition

Errol Spence
Shawn Porter
Jeff Rog
Kell’s Stream
Ricky Burns
Yuriorkis Gamboa
Victor Postol

Six of those seven fighters were very elderly and well past their prime when Crawford fought them. That’s why it’s demanding to draw much from Crawford’s previous 40 wins on his resume, because Never took part in any elite or A level competitions.

On Saturday, Crawford will step into the ring for the first time against a fighter of outstanding talent, and it could end badly for him.

“You see Canelo go down to 175 to fight Dmitry Bivol, and you see what happened. [Canelo’s power didn’t carry up, and he was too small to compete]”- said Diaz.

Canelo’s strength prevented him from moving up in weight from 168 to 175 pounds, and he looked like he would be an ill-suited fit for WBA airy heavyweight champion Bivol in their 2022 fight.

The same thing could happen to Crawford, who is even less energetic than Canelo and is fighting a much bigger puncher in Madrimov. This could be an eye-opening experience for Crawford, showing that he overreached a bit, not recognizing his foe.

“He trains with wrestlers,” Diaz said of Madrimov’s work with wrestlers and jiu-jitsu fighters at camp. That could lend a hand in the Crawford fight, since he likes to fight in the clinch.

If Madrimov can take away Crawford’s wrestling ability, it will force him to focus on other tools that are more related to boxing. Crawford does not have the strength to get into the trenches and fight Madrimov, as he has power similar to GGG, and for a fighter who rarely fights and is approaching 40, it would be too risky to go to war.

Crawford’s age and inactivity over the past four years could be his undoing if he fights Madrimov the same way he did his three previous opponents: Errol Spence, David Avanesyan and Shawn Porter.

All of these fighters were older fighters who had no skills left when they fought Crawford, and he used their restricted skills to win by knockout.

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Boxing

Tyson’s conqueror, Danny Williams, was “never considered” for Morrison

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Kenzie Morrison Danny Williams

World Boxing News has learned that Danny Williams was never considered for a fight against Tommy Morrison’s son Kenzie on November 9.

WBN has learned from a source that Williams was scheduled to face Morrison next month when he returns to action at Firelake Arena in Shawnee. However, promoter Tony Holden confirmed what WBN initially reported, namely that Williams had been offered for the fight.

BoxRec also briefly placed Williams within Morrison’s record on November 9, before removing the former British champion. Williams famously knocked out Mike Tyson in 2004, but has since lived off his victory despite losing his British license more than a decade ago.

Holden, who represents Morrison and is looking for an opponent for the competition in three weeks, explained the situation exclusively to WBN.

“I never confirmed William’s story and I never considered him,” Holden said. “I said no when a local promoter suggested it.”

Williams, 51, last fought in August 202, losing for the 33rd time in his career. With 88 professional fights under his belt, Williams seems unable to turn down a payday despite his advanced age.

Morrison, a power puncher who has stopped 19 of his 21 wins, will look for his next conquest elsewhere. The fight with Mike Balogun remains on the table for 2025 after it was postponed from its original October date.

Balogun, who knocked out Kenzi’s brother Trey in the first round, claimed Morrison was pulled from the fight to spare him the loss.

Holden denies this view.

“Even though this post isn’t up to my standards, I’m going to write it anyway. Mike Balogun falsely claimed that I pulled Kenzie Morrison out of the fight because I was afraid he would lose. Please allow me to correct you, Mr. Balogun,” he stated.

“The decision was not made by Kenzie. Let’s raise the stakes and make it fascinating. If you emerge victorious this month, Kenzie will fight in November.

“We may decide this early next year. If your confidence remains unshaken, we can place a significant bet. Watch Kenzie take revenge on her brother and end your career.

Balogun, a former San Francisco 49ers linebacker, responded to Holden by increasing his salary for a potential collision next year.

“No matter how fair and honorable your decision was, just remember that ‘yesterday’s price is not today’s price,’” said the 2010 undrafted pick.

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Andrew Moloney is confident that if given the chance, he would have beaten Phumelele Cafu and Kosei Tanaka

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Andrew Moloney (left) attacks Pedro Guevara – photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

Few people were more disappointed than Andrew Moloney when Kosei Tanaka lost his WBO super flyweight belt to Phumelele Cafu at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on Monday night.

The 33-year-old Australian veteran was hoping to get a shot at beating Tanaka in the lucrative Japanese market.

Those dreams were dashed when South Africa’s Cafu delivered the performance of his life, knocking out Tanaka in the fifth round and finishing the fight strongly, beating the four-weight world champion by split decision.

“The plan was to target the WBO and really chase the Tanaka fight, but it all fell apart on Monday night,” Moloney (26-4-1NC, 16 KO) told The Ring. “I think the WBO is probably still the direction we go, but I’m not sure if they have a rematch clause or if Tanaka will take it. But after watching the fight yesterday, I would be really confident that I could fight one of these guys and win. We would like to follow this path.

“I would love to fight Tanaka in Japan as a four-division world champion. He’s definitely someone I’ve looked up to and wanted to fight for a long time.

“Last night was a little hard to watch. The way he performed, I’m more confident than ever that I have what it takes to beat Tanaka.

I assume there will be a rematch and I hope that Tanaka will regain the belt and I will be able to return to the ring and climb the rankings, and maybe this fight will still happen.

Tanaka entered Moloney’s orbit four years ago when he debuted at 115 pounds. Earlier this year, it looked like they were also on a collision course, with Moloney being number one in the WBO rankings. However, when an offer was made for the vacant IBF lightweight title fight between Vasily Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr. in May in Perth, Western Australia, Moloney felt he couldn’t turn her down.

This decision ended in disaster. Moloney faced Carlos Cuadras, who withdrew from the fight with a ruptured Achilles tendon and was replaced by Pedro Guevara. Moloney entered the fight with a torn bicep and was largely reduced to boxing with one hand, which circumscribed his punching power.

Still, Moloney felt he did more than enough to win, and was shocked when Guevara was declared the winner by split decision. He was so disappointed that he announced immediately after the fight that he was leaving the ring, but a few days later he withdrew these comments.

It was a breakthrough moment in his career.

“Looking back, it’s a wonderful thing, but watching the Tanaka-Cafu fight made me think that maybe I would do a lot of things if I could turn back time a little bit,” Moloney explained.

“Before my last fight, I was number one in the WBO rankings and I rejected the option of waiting to fight Tanaka. But the opportunity arose to fight Guevara in Australia for the interim WBC title on a major card, and to be candid, I kind of regretted that the Tanaka fight was hanging in the balance, but ultimately we decided to stay busy and take the opportunity to fight in Australia.

“Also, the injury before the fight was another thing I thought about: will I undergo surgery, keep the top spot and wait for Tanaka, but I made the decision to go ahead with the fight with Guevara. Looking back now, maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do. And looking at the way Tanaka fought last night, I thought maybe I should have waited. I’m sure I could beat Tanaka and take the belt away from him.

“So I take some consolation, but unfortunately you can’t turn back time.”

It’s been a frustrating year for Moloney, but he’s still hitting the gym and his team is working to get him another fight. The window of opportunity to box again this year is closing quickly, but he still hopes to return to the ring in December, most likely in his native Australia.

“I really hope so,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been working on. I have been training strenuous at the gym for some time, quite a few months. I hope to return before the end of the year.

“At this stage it will probably be December. I’m trying to block something, but so far no luck. I’m still training away as if the fight was to take place in December, the team is currently working on it and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll be able to finish it.

“I just hope we can get out before the end of the year, get back into the winner’s circle and start climbing the rankings again.”

Moloney, who fought at bantamweight for the first three years of his professional career before dropping down to super flyweight, surprisingly, said he would even consider moving up to another weight class given the right opportunity.

“It’s a tough time in the super flyweight division,” said Moloney, the eighth challenger to The Ring’s 115-pound title. “There’s a lot going on and it’s always strenuous to plan which route to take because everything changes so quickly. I’d pick Bam Rodriguez to beat Guevara, then there’s talk of a rematch between Kazuto Ioka and Fernando Martinez on Up-to-date Year’s Eve. And then there’s talk of Bama, if they win, fighting the winner of that game in unification. The WBO seems to me the fastest way to win the title, so that’s the path we will follow.

“We have also rejected for some time the idea of ​​moving up to flyweight and getting crack there. There’s also some engaging scene going on there right now, but it’s still uncertain. I’d probably feel a little better at super flyweight, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens with Cafu and Tanaka, but like I said, I’d feel comfortable and confident against either of them, so hopefully he can make it it will happen sooner rather than later.”

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Doubts that fuel 19-year-old Benjamin Johnson

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Despite an impressive amateur resume, welterweight Benjamin Johnson of Springdale, Maryland, enters the professional ring with a shoulder injury.

Johnson will face Kevin Pantoja in a four-round fight at Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington, Maryland, promoted by his trainer Lamont Roach Snr’s NoXcuses Promotions. The fight will be broadcast on Saturday on ProBox TV.

Johnson, 1-0 (1 KO), spent just 2:23 in the ring in his professional debut, displaying the quick, aggressive hands that won him multiple national titles. However, 19-year-old Johnson feels an advantage, believing he is being overlooked by his NoXcuses Boxing Gym teammates.

Pantoja, 1-1, 27, has never stopped being a professional – Johnson aims to change that.

“People underestimate me,” Johnson said. “It’s been like that since I was an amateur.”

He added that this underestimation increases his motivation in the gym. Johnson is determined to prove his worth not only to himself, but also to those who doubt him or, worse, don’t recognize him. “I never felt like I was recognized as that guy, so I feel like I’m underappreciated,” Johnson said of his amateur and now professional career.

Johnson sees the fight as a key step in his career, compared to feared forward David Benavidez by some teammates and touted by others as one of the most ready-to-fight prospects in the country.

“I train as much as I can,” Johnson said. “It’s about making a statement. The way you win shows people what you’re capable of, and I’m ready to show my best.

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