Former two-weight undisputed champion Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford 40-0 (31) wants to go for the hat-trick.
The 36-year-old southpaw from Omaha, Nebraska will make his 154-pound debut when he challenges WBC junior middleweight champion Israil ‘The Dream’ Madrimov 10-0-1 (7) at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, California on August 3. The vacant WBO interim title will also be up for grabs.
Victory will set Crawford well on the path to becoming the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF champion in a third weight class, a remarkable feat if he can achieve it.
“I want to leave a legacy that’s never been left before,” said Crawford.
“I’ve seen it all. He’s very talented and strong, but I’ve fought guys who are talented and strong. He has good footwork, but I’ve fought guys with good footwork. He’s elusive. But I’ve fought guys who are elusive.
“It’s just about me dictating the pace and doing what I want to do in the ring and taking away what he wants to do.”
After his one-sided ninth-round knockout of Errol Spence Jr 28-1 (22) to become the undisputed champion at 147-pounds in July last year, there was talk of Crawford moving up a remarkable three weight classes in an ambitious bid to wrest the the WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine 168-pound championship belts from Mexican superstar Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 60-2-2 (39).
Those plans came to a grinding halt when Alvarez, 33, handed out a 12-round drubbing to undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo 35-2-1 (19) last September.
The feeling from the boxing public at the time was that if the larger Charlo couldn’t put a dent in Alvarez, then Crawford would have no chance either.
Still, Crawford has not given up entirely on the idea, even if he has parked it for now.
“Right now we’re at 154 pounds,” said Crawford. “I’m going to make my mark at 154 and then if I’m still around, we’ll see what the future holds. But now I’m going to make my mark where I’m at.”
With Sebastian Fundora 21-1-1 (13) recently acquiring the full WBO championship as well as the WBC belt with his majority decision win over Tim Tszyu 24-1 (17) last month, the path to undisputed in a third weight class could be a relatively easy to navigate if the six-foot-six Californian comes to the party.
“It’s not a priority, but it’s up [there],” Crawford said. “You have to understand, there’s potentially two belts on the line [on Aug. 3].
“If Fundora doesn’t fight me after this, I’m WBO and WBA champion. If he does fight me, then that’s three belts on the line and there’s only one more to capture. So, potentially, in two or three fights – that’s undisputed.”
Crawford’s trainer Brian ‘Bomac’ McIntyre believes he has a once in a generation talent on his hands whose only limit is his imagination.
“You have to rank him in the top five of all great fighters,” McIntyre said. “That’s Ray Robinson, Terence Crawford, Floyd Mayweather – fighters like that. You have to put his name in there.”
As for Madrimov, McIntyre is expecting a tough fight from the man who has been favourably compared to recently retired middleweight wrecking machine Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin 42-2-1 (37).
“He’s dangerous. They call him the GGG of 154. We have a lot stacked against us,” said McIntyre.
“Terence wants to be considered the best in and out of the ring, so you must take challenges like this to prove to the world that you are one of the best to lace up the gloves.”