By: Sean Crose
The naysayers will walk away from Saturday’s middleweight title fight in Los Angeles believing that Terence Crawford could never beat Canelo Alvarez. Or that Crawford, the four-division champion, is done. Maybe they’re right on both counts. Maybe not. But they’re certainly wrong on their point. Crawford has risen from welterweight to middleweight and fought the superbly skilled Israil Madrimov in a fierce, high-quality boxing match over the weekend. What Crawford did to beat Madrimov on Saturday was impressive. That, not conjecture, needs to be the story.
“He didn’t throw wild shots like I wanted him to,” Crawford admitted of Madrimov after the fight. “I knew from the start, but I was patient. I didn’t want to rush anything; that’s how I got caught a couple of times, trying to eat too early.” Such things happen when you’re up against an opponent of Madrimov’s caliber. “Israil is a tough guy,” Crawford continued. “I knew he was going to be tough, I knew all about him when I got to Uzbekistan. He’s really strong, he’s durable, he landed a lot of good shots. He took me to the 12th round. He’s got quick feet, good pace upstairs, and he’s very strong. And he was waiting to counter me, just like I was trying to counter him.”
There is probably a school of thought among boxing fans that a famous fighter can’t put on a truly great performance unless he does it against another famous fighter. Of course, that’s nonsense, but the bottom line is that a large segment of the boxing public may still see Errol Spence as a more serious threat to Crawford than Madrimov. Maybe it’s just human nature, but it doesn’t really make much sense.
But when a fighter is as good as Crawford, it’s disappointing when he doesn’t completely dominate and destroy his latest opponent. It happened to Mike Tyson, and it’s happening to Crawford now. Greatness obviously comes at a price, and that price is sky-high expectations. Boxing fans are a finicky bunch. On the other hand, people want to be entertained when they’re paying over half a hundred dollars for a pay-per-view card. Fortunately for Crawford, he’s often one of the most entertaining fighters in the sport.
