Crawford ekes out decision, now 4-weight champ
Written by I Dig Sports
LOS ANGELES -- Terence Crawford scored a tightly contested unanimous decision victory over Israil Madrimov on Saturday at BMO Stadium to capture the WBA junior middleweight title.
Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs), ESPN's No. 2 pound-for-pound boxer, prevailed by scores of 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113 to become a four-division champion. ESPN scored it 115-114 from ringside.
The bout was a tactical one from bell to bell and marked Crawford's first distance fight since July 2016, when he outpointed Viktor Postol in a 140-pound title match. Crawford, who will turn 37 next month, entered the ring riding an 11-fight knockout streak.
"Israil was a tough competitor," Crawford said. "I knew he was going to be tough. ... He's real strong, he's durable, he took a lot of good shots and he got me to Round 12. ... He had fast feet, good rhythm upstairs. ... He was waiting to counter me just like I was trying to counter him.
"He was disciplined; he didn't come in throwing wild shots like I intended him to. And he fought a good fight."
Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) won the WBA title when he scored a fifth-round TKO victory over Magomed Kurbanov in March in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou.
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