Terence Crawford claimed world honours in his fourth division, defeating Israil Madrimov to capture the WBA Super Welterweight title.
Crawford was taken the distance for the first time in eight years as he secured a unanimous decision victory over a tricky customer in Madrimov in Los Angeles.
It was a tentative chess match for the first half of the fight, as both men enjoyed success despite the lack of explosiveness.
Much of the same continued throughout the beginning of the second half, as neither fighter showed any chinks in their armour.
Madrimov had success in the ninth round, as he used his natural size advantage and slick skills to win the round as he looked to finish strong.
Crawford came on strong towards the end of the 11th, taking advantage of Madrimov over-extending, and fired a strong uppercut, which sparked ‘Bud’ to let his hands go.
Both men upped the intensity in the final stanza as they fought to the final bell in a close fight, but Crawford had his hand raised as the scorecards read 116-112, 115-113(x2) in his favour.
In the co-main event, there was a huge shock as Jose Valenzuela defeated Isaac Cruz to win the WBA Super-lightweight title.
Cruz was making the first defence of his title after stopping Rolly Romero back in March, with most observers believing it would be a routine first defence against Valenzuela.
It wasn’t to be though, with the challenger putting in a superb performance to win the majority of the rounds as the fight went the distance.
Despite one judge scoring it 115-113 for Cruz, the other two judges had it 116-112 in Valenzuela’s favour, as he was crowned the new world champion at 140lbs.
Andy Ruiz and Jarrell Miller couldn’t be separated after 12 rounds of heavyweight action after their bout ended in a majority draw.
Source : boxing-social.com
