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Many up-to-date challenges ahead for Terence Crawford – Canelo or someone else

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Terence Crawford attacks Israil Madrimov during their WBA 154-pound title fight on August 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles (Photo credit: Mark Robinson, Matchroom Boxing)

by Francisco Salazar |

LOS ANGELES – Terence Crawford loves to challenge himself and hates to lose.

Not many fighters have that mindset, but so far the combination has worked.

The undefeated Crawford outboxed and defeated Israil Madrimov by unanimous decision at the top of Saturday’s DAZN Pay-Per-View event at BMO Stadium. Crawford (41-0, 31 knockouts) won by scores of 115-113, 115-113 and 116-112 to capture the WBA junior middleweight title.

With this feat, Crawford is now a four-weight champion.

Boxing fans can debate what the fight was like.

Uzbekistan Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) displayed a tough style to beat and confirmed his No. 3 ranking in the 154-pound division. He fought a disciplined fight given to him by trainer Joel Diaz and relied on a skill set he honed in the amateur ranks.

Now that the Madrimov fight is behind us, Crawford wonders who the No. 3 ranked contender will face next.

The plan leading up to the fight week was a mega fight with Ring and unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KO). Interest in the fight seems to lean more towards Crawford. Especially since he is supported by Turki Alalshikh, whose group Riyadh Season presented Saturday’s show.

In previous interviews, including one at a PPV event, Alalshikh has stated that he would again offer Canelo the Crawford fight. Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia are both proposed venues for the superfight.

“As I said on ESPN, I made (Alvarez) an offer,” Alalshikh said. “If he’s clever, he’ll take it.”

Following his win over Madrimov, Crawford was still open to a fight with Alvarez.

“You know what I said, ‘If the money’s right, we’ll fight,’” Crawford said in an interview after his fight with Chris Mannix. “(Canelo) has to focus on the fight. I have to focus on my family (now that the Madrimov fight is over).”

Crawford will turn 37 on September 28. Did his performance against Madrimov influence Alvarez’s decision to fight Crawford?

Alvarez will defend his 168-pound title against Brooklyn’s Edgar Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs), ranked ninth at 168 pounds, on Sept. 14 in Las Vegas.

Fans have been clamoring for Alvarez to face David Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) for the past few years. Alvarez has been criticized for his lack of interest in the fight, and that will likely continue if he faces Crawford before — or instead of — Benavidez.

Alalshikh also revealed a contingency plan in case Alvarez continues to ignore his requests. Vergil Ortiz (21-0, 21 KOs) has emerged as the up-to-date favorite to dethrone interim WBC 154-pound champion Serhiy Bohachuk (24-1, 23 KOs).

The fight will take place this Saturday at the Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas. The DAZN event will be the first sponsorship deal between Riyadh Season and Golden Boy Promotions, Ortiz’s promoter.

The Crawford-Ortiz proposition has already generated buzz, as well as drawing attention from this weekend’s undefeated contender.

“@Turki_alalshikh let me in,” Ortiz wrote on Channel X after hearing the call on air.

There are other lucrative and electrifying fights at 154 pounds.

Leading the way would be former WBO champion Tim Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs). A fight in his native Australia — where he fights on September 22 — would be substantial business.

Saturday’s victory earned Crawford the WBO interim title and the WBC mandatory challenger, both of which put him on a path to unified WBC/WBO titleholder Sebastian Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs). The WBO has already ruled the fight must take place before the end of the year.

Fundora was scheduled to face former welterweight champion Errol Spence (28-1, 22 KOs), but no fight or suggested date has been announced. Crawford dominated and stopped Spence in the ninth round.t round to completely unify the 147-pound division last July.

The roster also includes recently crowned WBA titleholder Bakhram Murtalaziev (22-0, 16 KOs). Given Crawford’s links to Alalshikh, a unification fight with Murtazaliev — a devout Muslim — would be a perfect fit for Riyadh.

The competitive nature of Saturday’s win has some fans wondering about his ability to dominate at a up-to-date weight class. Crawford’s 11-fight knockout streak ended against the defensive Madrimov.

This shouldn’t diminish his established status as a generational talent at all. In fact, the effort to add to that legacy is even more compelling.

Crawford can stay at 154 and try to become the first ever undisputed three-division champion in the multi-belt era, a feat only four fighters in history have accomplished when the sport recognized only one champion in each division.

The last person to achieve this was the legendary Henry Armstrong, who in 1938 won the championship in the 126, 135 and 147-pound weight classes simultaneously.

Crawford could continue to challenge himself at a up-to-date weight class ahead of his proposed fight with Alvarez. The odds of him losing to one of the world titleholders in that weight class could be engaging.

Fortunately for the sport, Crawford is always willing to take such risks.

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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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