Terence Crawford celebrates with his championship belts after defeating Errol Spence Jr. for the undisputed welterweight championship on July 29, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
A path is cleared for Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford to eye a major title in his fourth weight division.
The Ring has confirmed that talks are ongoing for Crawford to face recently crowned WBA 154-pound titlist Israil Madrimov. The fight is earmarked to take place on Aug. 3 in the greater Los Angeles area, should a deal be reached.
There was initial concern when Ring 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo emailed the WBA to invoke his rights as WBA ‘Champion in Recess.’ The status affords its claimants the rights to immediately challenge for the title they previously held.
A follow-up note from TGB Promotions—Premier Boxing Champions’ (PBC) primary promoter—provided hope for the best case scenario.
“On behalf of former undisputed Super Welterweight champion Jermell Charlo, we are pleased to inform you that he hereby requests to be reinstated as the WBA Super Champion at 154 pounds,” TGB Promotions’ Tom Brown alerted the WBA Championship Committee in a letter obtained by The Ring. “We also want to let you know that Jermell has no problem with WBA champion Israil Madrimov defending his regular title against Terence Crawford this summer.
“We are currently working on scheduling his next fight. Thank you for your attention and consideration.”
ESPN.com boxing insider Mike Coppinger was the first to reveal the latest development in Madrimov-Crawford talks.
Crawford (40-0, 31 knockouts) is The Ring’s welterweight champion and No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He has not fought since a July 29 stoppage win over Errol Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) to fully unify the 147-pound division.
Uzbekistan’s Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) claimed the WBA 154-pound title in a fifth-round knockout of Magomed Kurbanov. Their bout took place on the March 8 ‘Knockout Chaos’ show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The event came at the tail end of Riyadh Season 2023. The same group—headed by Turki Alalshikh—now plans to sponsor shows outside the Middle East, specifically in the U.S. and U.K. Alalshikh will present the targeted Aug. 3 with Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn, one of his two preferred promoters. Frank Warren is the other main promoter involved in the KSA-based events. There are also plans to stage a September show in London featuring former two-time unified heavyweight titlist Anthony Joshua.
Matchroom co-promotes Madrimov along with World of Boxing.
Crawford is a promotional free agent. However, Alalshikh was quick to reveal his desire to work with the undefeated three-division champion. A teaser post of Crawford was offered by the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority on Thursday.
The post undoubtedly triggered Charlo (35-2-1, 19 KOs) to insert himself into the equation.
Charlo fully unified the 154-pound division’s titles in a tenth-round knockout of Brian Castaño in their May 2022 rematch. He was since forced to relinquish all four major belts in lieu of proceeding with ordered mandatory title defenses.
The lone fight during that span for Charlo was a unanimous decision defeat to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs). Charlo moved up two divisions to unsuccessfully challenge for Alvarez’s Ring/undisputed 168-pound championship last Sept. 30 in Las Vegas.
The WBA belt was freed up shortly after Madrimov enforced his mandatory title status earlier this year. The move was made to get Charlo to either commit to a fight or give up the title. The latter took place, just in time for Madrimov to proceed with a previously agreed-upon bout versus Russia’s Kurbanov.
Charlo was downgraded to WBA ‘Champion in Recess.’ The designation is assigned to former titleholders who are unavailable for various means, be it injury or other matters. It is provided to allow fighters to immediately challenge for the title they previously held, when they are ready to return.
The wording in TGB Promotions’ email calls for the WBA to resurrect an outdated title policy, however.
Madrimov is the recognized WBA 154-pound titlist, not the ‘Regular’ titleholder as suggested by Brown. The sanctioning body previously abolished all interim titles in 2021. The move was part of its aggressive title reduction policy, with the goal to eliminate multiple WBA beltholders within a weight class.
Per its rules, there are no grounds to reinstate a ‘Super’ champion. The WBA Championship Committee would have to approve that request.
This latest move in Crawford’s career comes in lieu of previous plans to target the WBO 154-pound title. He enforced his WBO ‘Super Champion’ status to become the mandatory at the higher wait. It entitled him to a shot at Sebastian Fundora, who dethroned Tim Tszyu in their March 30 bloodbath in Las Vegas.
An order by the WBO called for negotiations to begin on April 5. However, the ruling was parked due to a medical suspension dealt to its newly crowned titlist.
Fundora survived a broken nose in the opening round to outpoint Tszyu, who fought through a horrific cut atop his scalp for most of the bout. The bout was approved by the WBO on the condition that the winner immediately face Crawford.
However, the Nevada State Athletic Commission placed Fundora on medical suspension through September 30.
Crawford then made a power move to align with Alalshikh, and set his sights on the next available titlist.
Reconsideration from the PBC side now pushes that vision one step closer to reality.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
