Per a PBC press release, the WBO and vacant WBC 154-pound title are at stake for the pay-per-view main event. Both sanctioning bodies have already vowed to call a mandatory title defense for the winner. Neither has acknowledged the other’s existence for the March 30 main event, or its planned post-fight ruling.
Round 3: Spence comes out with urgency but Crawford is keeping his distance, circling away. Hard left thrown by Spence. Spence openign up with Crawford in the corner. He’s stinging the head and body, Crawford waiting to counter. Triple jab from Crawford. Crawford to the body. Spence on the hunt, Crawford defending well. Spence back to the body, Crawford with a combination. Spence leading with his right hand. Spence with a good jab, but there’s Crawford with another stiff counter. He’s landing the harder shots. Crawford jab keeps Spence off balance.
“Israil was a tough competitor,” acknowledged Crawford during his post-fight interview with DAZN. “He’s real strong, he’s durable, and he takes a lot of good shots. He had fast feet and good rhythm upstairs. He was looking to counter me just like I was looking to counter him. He was very disciplined, and he fought a good fight.”
Crawford had stopped the opponent in 11 straight bouts, but that streak ended in his first fight at 154 pounds. Madrimov was able to handle and equal Crawford’s power, leading to a canny tactical contest.
“I feel good still, and a big congratulations to Alexandro, because he deserves it, he’s a tough guy,” the 40-year-old Donaire said. “I love the sport so much, but we gotta go back to the locker room and talk about it. I felt good, but some things just didn’t trigger. I didn’t pull the trigger. I was just trying to counter so much, trying to put too much power into it.”
The ringwalks made it clear Crawford fans were outnumbering Spence and T-Mobile Arena raised the roof when American rap superstar Eminem emerged from the smoke alongside Crawford, dressed in black and with a fishnet over his shoulder.
David Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs), No. 1 at 168, has held the interim WBC 168-pound title since May 2022. The WBC has never come close to enforcing a title consolidation bout versus Guadalaraja’s Alvarez.
“Crawford is a $US15 million ($22.9m) fighter, so if you draw a line from that, Tim would be around the $US10m ($15.3m) mark, because he would be the unified champion going into that fight (if he beats Fundora).
“I’m totally focused on staying at 135 pounds because it’s where I feel strongest and most comfortable,” Cruz said. “I just want to give everyone watching a great show. I’ve made a connection with the fans because I showed that I’m not afraid to fight the best. I have no fear, just resolve.”
He has knocked out nine consecutive opponents. The previous eight weren’t close to Porter’s level. The last opponent to go the 12-round distance with him, Viktor Postol, doubles as Crawford’s best previous foe, but that decision win for Crawford came at 140 pounds.
At 147, where Crawford is ranked No. 2 by ESPN, his résumé was severely lacking. Enter Porter, a measuring stick whose other two defeats came via narrow decision against prime versions of Kell Brook and Keith Thurman.
It was an absolute clinic from three-division champion Crawford, also previously undisputed at light-welterweight, dropping a stunned Spence to the canvas for the first time in his professional career at the end of round two and twice more in the seventh before a one-sided beatdown was finally halted by the referee in round nine.
The ultra-skilled American southpaw, whom many would have above the likes of Oleksandr Usyk and Naoya Inoue as the current P4P No1, is heading up to super-welterweight to challenge for the WBA title at 154lbs – stripped from former undisputed champion Jermell Charlo in March – that has been held by Uzbekistan’s Madrimov since he stopped the previously undefeated Russian Magomed Kurbanov on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s win over Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia. The vacant WBO ‘interim’ title is also on the line.
Spence came out in round three determined to turn the tide after the knockdown, throwing big shots, including a left hook that landed cleanly early. However, Crawford was able to withstand the attack and showed his precision by landing a clean counter right that again staggered Spence.
“I swear, I swear, I have said this before, but I’ve always dreamed of being a world champion,” said Crawford, who improved to 40-0 and became the first male terrence boxer record in the four-belt era to be undisputed in two weight classes. “I’m an overachiever. Nobody believed in me when I was coming up.”
“I was just warming up in the earlier rounds,” Crawford said after the fight. “I just started picking up the pace, planting my seeds, and hit him with the hook. We knew what he was going to bring to the table, from orthodox to southpaw.”
