Israil Madrimov always had the sense that an opportunity like this would eventually come his way.
For a brief time, his only concern was the gateway fight he needed to get there that threatened to fall through the cracks.
The unbeaten Uzbek is set to defend his WBA junior middleweight title versus Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford, who moves up in weight. Their scheduled 12-round bout headlines a Pay-Per-View event this Saturday from BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
A series of circumstances nearly left Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 knockouts) without a chance to even win the belt at stake. His vacant title fight versus Magomed Kurbanov was postponed several times and met with a medical issue that took a few extra days to resolve.
“At that time, I had a lot of thoughts racing through my head,” Madrimov admitted to The Ring. “That was the longest I’ve ever prepared for the fight given the multiple postponements. We were scheduled to fight in the U.S., then Mexico… all these places around the world but we never got in the ring. Then they told me it might not happen at all with that last situation.
“It was tough and go until about four weeks out from (March 8). We stayed in shape but then when we got that last date, my coaches came in for that part of camp. Then at the last minute, we were pulled off the flight because of that medical situation.”At that point, my mentality was ‘If it’s meant to happen, it will happen’ If not, then I would just have to accept that fate. So, we got the word, we made it in time for the weigh-in and then of course the fight.”
Madrimov was eventually cleared to fight. He made the most of the opportunity, as he knocked out the unbeaten Kurbanov in the fifth round of a March 8 show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“It all worked out. We made it to the ring and I left as the new WBA champion. It wasn’t ideal how we got there but it was an experience that made me stronger.”
The feat also made Madrimov a force to contend with in the new-look junior middleweight division.
Jermell Charlo (35-2-1, 19 KOs) was relieved of all four sanctioning body belts and his Ring championship for failure to defend. Madrimov was one of the benefactors of the belts being up for grabs. The reward came in a dream assignment versus Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs), The Ring welterweight champ and No. 3 pound-for-pound.
Saturday’s show is largely centered around Crawford, a favorite of Turki Alalshikh and the Riyadh Season group. Much of the pre-fight dialogue has included speculation of a future pound-for-pound clash versus Mexico’s Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs).
Madrimov, No. 3 at 154, is unbothered by any talk of the mythical fight. He is equally unconcerned of his underdog status despite Crawford moving up to his fourth weight division. Crawford is a whopping -700 favorite according to bet365, which lists Madrimov at +450 to successfully defend his title.
Crawford has won RING championships at 135, 140 and 147 pounds. He became the sport’s first male undisputed champion in two weight divisions after a tour-de-force stoppage win over Errol Spence last July 29 in Las Vegas.
Madrimov views the chance to derail Crawford as the universe’s makeup call for his struggles through the ranks.
A controversial stoppage win over Michel Soro in Dec. 2021 saw Madrimov become the WBA mandatory challenger. A rematch was ordered for the following July but ended on a clash of heads after two rounds.
Madrimov went another nine months for his next fight. It came on the ‘Before The Bell’ portion of a DAZN show last April in San Antonio, California. A ten-round win over Raphael Igbokwe marked his lone fight of 2023. Then came the waiting game from the WBA on when he would have the chance to challenge for the title.
An ordered fight versus Kurbanov wasn’t confirmed for the full title when both sides agreed to the bout. It didn’t matter, as it changed locations multiple times before the final threat of being removed from the schedule altogether.
All that was left for Madrimov was to maintain faith that his time would come. Once it did, he made every second of it count and now focuses for the legacy fight he has long craved.
“I take everything as it comes and was rewarded for my patience,” noted Madrimov. We went through six different opponents for title eliminators and waited three years for my title shot.
“It finally came and I was blessed with that outcome.”
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