Israil Madrimov Doesn’t Mind Being Underdog Vs Terence Crawford, Ready To Show The World His Skills In High-Profile Fight (Interview)

Israil Madrimov is ready for the spotlight in his upcoming high-profile fight.

On August 3rd, Madrimov is defending his 154-pound WBA title against former 147-pound undisputed champion Terence Crawford, who is moving up in weight class after defeating Errol Spence.

The fight will take place at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles and is being backed by Saudis to promote their Riyadh Season event.

We spoke to Madrimov ahead of his big fight, and he’s excited to face off against his favorite fighter, Terence Crawford.

“I have a dream of fighting with star fighters, you know, and then Crawford is my favorite boxer, because when I learned about fighting him I was happy.”

Despite being the champion at 154 pounds, Madrimov doesn’t mind being labeled the underdog in his fight with Crawford.

“You know, everything is kind of deserved in boxing. So all my career, I was a favorite because of the way I was performing and the way I was competing against all those guys. So I deserved being a favorite here. He deserves being a favorite. He has a bigger name, bigger resume. He’s a multiple weights world champion, you know, so I have nothing against it. People don’t know me, and obviously, you know, they will always favor someone they know, you know, who’s been great for years. And again, for me, it’s an opportunity to come out, make a big surprise for everyone, you know, and prove that I’m the better fighter.”

The Uzbek boxer is looking forward to showing the world his skills in front of a big audience on a big boxing card.

“This is a big opportunity for me to showcase myself and my skills to all the people who’ll be watching and for people to find out about me, about my country, you know, about our culture, and obviously, you know, show my skills, show my boxing, show my abilities, and, you know, shut the world. Show. Show everyone what the Uzbek fighter can do.”

Madrimov also praised Saudi advisor Turki Alalshikh for putting the Riyadh Season Los Angeles card together.

“What His Excellency is doing for boxing is amazing because boxing was a little bit stagnating with the fights can be made this and that. Good fighters that don’t have big names and wouldn’t get an opportunity to fight someone, you know, like with me, in my case, I would never get this fight opportunity if not Turki. So I see for me, it’s an opportunity, and for other fighters. It’s a big card. Great fights on the card. Probably the biggest card in recent memory in the United States. I’m excited for it and very grateful for the opportunities to his excellency.”

Madrimov vs. Crawford will be broadcast live on Saturday, August 3rd, on DAZN PPV, ESPN+ PPV, and Amazon PPV.