Fresh off the back of his latest world title win in a new weight division at the first time of asking, Terence Crawford is once again being heralded as one of the best active boxers in the sport.
The Omaha, Nebraska native boxed well over the 12 rounds to secure a unanimous points victory, but the cards don’t tell the full tale.
His opponent, Israil Madrimov, gave Crawford plenty of problems and never let him pull away as clearly as he does in most fights – he was also the first man to go the distance with ‘Bud’ in twelve fights.
That wasn’t enough to stop the former two-weight undisputed star from becoming a four-weight world champion however and now attention will turn to who he might face next.
Much of the talk going into the Madrimov fight was about a possible clash against super-middleweight champion, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarerz. Riyadh Season’s Turki Alalshikh even announced during the card that an offer had been sent to the Mexican. However, just 48 hours later that offer had been rescinded with ‘His Excellency’ ‘no longer interested’ in the fight.
‘Bud’ now has the option of collecting more belts at 154, facing current welterweight champion, Jaron ‘Boot’s Ennis or moving up to 160 to try and become a five-weight champion.
However, in a clip titled ‘We Will Do It Again’ captured by BoxNation on the morning after the Madrimov fight, Crawford can be seen saying goodbye to his opponent while also delivering a message to him.
“You’re gonna get it again.”
When asked about the comment, the now former champion seemed keen.
“Interesting fight.”
Whether or not Crawford was offering a rematch or perhaps suggesting Madrimov was good enough to get another shot at a world title sometime down the line is unclear.
However, the closeness of the first contest, and the controversy of the scorecards in some peoples’ eyes, mean many would be happy to see this one run back a second time.
