Terence Crawford overcame a tougher than expected challenge to become a four-division champion Saturday night in Los Angeles, defeating Israil Madrimov in a close decision to win the WBA junior middleweight title.
Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs), fighting at 154 pounds for the first time, had some trouble dealing with Madrimov’s awkward movements and angles but pulled out the win on points. The judges scored it 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113 for Crawford.
It was Crawford’s first fight since his ninth-round TKO victory over Errol Spence in July 2023 to become the undisputed welterweight champion. It also snapped his streak of 11 consecutive knockout wins.
Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) won the WBA title when he scored a fifth-round TKO victory over Magomed Kurbanov last month in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the undercard of Joshua-Ngannou.