Crawford – Madrimov Clash Set for August 3rd with Stacked Undercard

Image: Crawford - Madrimov Clash Set for August 3rd with Stacked Undercard
Los Angeles Errol Spence Jr vs Terrence Crawford Press Conference
By Chris Williams - 04/22/2024 - Comments

The undercard for the August 3rd fight between WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov and Terence Crawford in Los Angeles, California, has been partially revealed. There will reportedly be an announcement this Wednesday in New York to make it official.

Crawford moves up to 147 to get a straight title shot in his first fight at 154 against the unbeaten Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs).

Undercard Matchups

– Isaac Cruz vs Jose Valenzuela
– Andy Ruiz vs Jarrell Miller
– Leo Santa Cruz vs Abner Mares III

Santa Cruz vs. Mares III: A Nostalgic Throwback

The match between Leo Santa Cruz (38-2-1, 19 KOs) and 38-year-old Abner Mares (31-3-2, 15) is more for the older fans who remember these two when they were in their prime many years ago and fought twice. Those fights were a long, long time ago, and neither of them is relevant in this era of the sport.

The match will be entertaining, but the winner isn’t heading towards world title honors. These guys are too long in the tooth to be winning world titles at their age.

Santa Cruz, 35, is actually younger than Crawford, but he’s not as well preserved because he’s been fighting much better opposition throughout his career compared to the Nebraska, who has only fought one elite-level guy during his 16-year career and that was the car crash-wrecked Errol Spence.

Ruiz vs. Miller: A Question of Ambition

Former unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz (35-2, 22 KOs) is making only his third appearance in four years since losing his IBF/WBA/WBO titles against Anthony Joshua in their rematch in December 2019.

Ruiz’s opponent, Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller (26-1-1, 22 KOs), is coming off a tenth-round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois last December in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. If Miller fights halfway decent, he’s got a chance of beating the 34-year-old Ruiz, who has lost whatever ambition he once had after getting two big paydays against Joshua, which made him a millionaire.

Rayo Valenzuela’s Title Shot Raises Eyebrows

Some fans might not be as excited about seeing Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela (13-2, 9 KOs) getting a title shot against WBA light welterweight champion Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz’s first title defense for a couple of reasons.

Rayo has a 1-2 record in his last two fights, and he’s not light welterweight. He campaigns at lightweight. So, he’ll be leapfrogging over the contenders in the 140-lb division to get a straight title shot despite not being ranked in the division, and having lost two out of his last three fights. It’s not exactly being fair to the contenders in the WBA’s top 15 at 140.

WBO Mandates Crawford-Madrimov Winner to Face Fundora

WBA junior middleweight champion Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) will defend his title against Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs). The WBO interim 154-lb title will also be at stake for the Crawford vs. Madrimov fight on August 3rd.

WBO champion Sebastian Fundora will be ordered to fight the winner of the Crawford – Madrimov clashes, with the contest needing to take place by December 31st. That’s bad news for Tim Tszyu, as it looks like he’s being skipped over for his rematch with Fundora after losing his WBO title to him last March.