Diaz Predicts Madrimov Will Hurt Crawford In Fifth Or Sixth Round

Ismail Madrimov’s trainer, Joel Diaz, predicts that he’ll figure out Terence Crawford by the fifth or sixth round and then hurt him with something big this Saturday, August 3rd, in their match in Turki Alalshikh’s Riyadh Season event in Los Angeles.

Diaz says WBA junior middleweight champion Madrimov (10-0-1, 9 KOs) has been hurting his speedy southpaw sparring partners while wearing 16 oz gloves in camp, preparing for Crawford (40-0, 31 KO’s) for their twelve-round contest at the BMO Stadium.

Crawford’s Move to 154

Joel notes that the 36-year-old Crawford has excelled at 140 and 147, but it’s going to be a different story moving up to 154 to take on Madrimov, who not only can punch like no one Terence has fought before but also has a similar style to him.

There are a lot of question marks about Crawford going into this fight because he’s not only going up in weight but also coming off a long layoff of 13 months, and he’s definitely not young. It seems to some that Crawford is fighting for the wrong reasons at this stage of his 16-year professional career, focusing on his desire for money.

Before fighting Errol Spence last year, Crawford appeared more ambitious, but now he seems money-hungry, and one gets the sense there’s a hint of greed behind it all. That’s not good because when fighters are driven just for money late in their careers, they struggle.

“He was a 140-pounder and he was great. He showed how good of a fighter he was at 140. He moved to 147 and did a lot of damage there,” said trainer Joel Diaz to Fight Hub TV, talking about Terence Crawford moving up to 154 this Saturday night against Israil Madrimov.

Crawford never fought any killers at 140 or 147, and that’s the problem. When he fought in those weight classes, it was before the talented fighters around. He chose not to fight the young lion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis at 147, which some saw as a clear duck, to ensure the Philadelphia native didn’t mess up his pursuit of a Canelo Alvarez payday fight.

“How is he going to react at 154 against a solid 154-pounder,” Diaz continued about Crawford. “A lot of people don’t know Israil Madrimov. I totally understand a lot of people saying it’s an easy fight for Crawford.”

We don’t know how Crawford will react when he feels the power of Madrimov’s shots because he’s never fought anyone near that 29-year-old’s power level.

Unless Crawford scores an early knockout of Madrimov, he will be getting hit hard by him at some point, and if his chin can’t handle those shots, all his skills and accomplishments from the past won’t help him.

“I would probably be the same as all these people if I didn’t know who Israil Madrimov is. He had over 300 amateur fights. He has a lot of experience. He’s run into fighters with a similar style as Crawford,” said Diaz.

Casual boxing fans feel this will be an easy fight for Crawford, but that’s because they’re ignorant about Madrimov. Even some hardcore boxing fans haven’t taken the time to watch his fights to give an accurate assessment of what he can do to Crawford.

“His ring IQ is above a lot of fighters,” Diaz said about Crawford. “Israil can switch lefty and righty just like Crawford. We’ve been practicing for both, lefty and righty. If Terence Crawford tries to smother you, stay composed.”

Crawford’s switch-hitting in his fights doesn’t help him, but it gets the commentators on television to rave about him. He’s better when he’s fighting in the orthodox stand and wastes time when he switches to southpaw. It’s all for sure, but with little substance.

Potential for an Early Knockout

“We have to make adjustments. Round by round, things can change. We’re going to see a technical fight in the early rounds until we figure out Crawford,” said Diaz about Madrimov. “By the fifth or sixth round, once Israil has his timing and distance, he can hurt him because I’ve seen it in sparring.”

If Diaz is right about Madrimov hurting Crawford by the fifth or sixth round, we could see an early night on Saturday and many disappointed fans of the Nebraska native.

I’m just wondering how His Excellency Turki will handle it, seeing Crawford lose because he’s been high on him, talking up a match against Canelo.

“I’ve brought in some fast, technical lefties, and Israil would do his thing to the point where you could see those punches that he was landing could do some damage. He was wearing 16 oz gloves in sparring. With 10 oz gloves, he’s very explosive, and he’s very unpredictable. He catches you with a lot of punches, and those punches do a lot of damage. Israil can go 15 rounds, no problems,” said Diaz.

Madrimov’s power could be a real problem for Crawford on Saturday night if he’s able to land his shots on him like he did his last opponent Magomed Kurbanov.