Terence Crawford nearly defeated difficult challenger Israil Madrimov to create four-weight history.
Crawford was hoping to join an elite club of four-weight world champions when he made his debut at 154 pounds in a WBA title fight against titleholder Madrimov in Los Angeles.
Crawford met his match in tough champion Madrimov.
It was a real chess match between the pair, but Crawford survived a real scare to get the nod along the distance.
He did lose his remarkable 11-fight KO streak which dated back to 2016, but earned a unanimous decision with the judges scoring the contest at 116-112, 115-113, 115-113 in his favour.
Crawford said after the final bell: “Israil was a tough competitor. I knew he was gonna be tough. He’s real strong, he’s durable, he took a lot of good shots.
“He had fast feet and good rhythm. He was very disciplined and he fought a good fight.
“I was being patient. I didn’t want to rush in because that’s how I got caught a couple of times.”
An electrifying performance from legendary rapper Eminem got the crowd simmering nicely in Los Angeles as Crawford looked to make history.
The opening exchanges saw a chess match between the pair, as Crawford immediately started switching his stance into southpaw to provide a new challenge to Madrimov.
Madrimov is traditionally a slow starter and looked to simply figure out the s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s and navigate the jab of the pound-for-pound ranked superstar.
Things failed to catch light from a fans perspective but it was an intriguing battle of attrition, as the pair refused to let their hands go and open up in a real chess match
Fans in the arena started to boo in spells after a dull start, but Madrimov and Crawford both started to trade and find the target in the fifth.
Crawford did land more punches than Madrimov when the final bell rang.
Crawford made history lifting a world title in a fourth weight class.
Crawford was struggling to beat his rival to the punch, with the Uzbek using some free-flowing movement to evade being pinned as little separated the pair when the halfway point was reached.
It was a tough contest to score with the exchanges ebbing and flowing but it was certain that the champion was limiting the normal rhythm of Crawford.
Madrimov had an exceptional ninth round as he upped the tempo in a bid to try and seize the initiative, landing some big straight shots through the guard.
Crawford marginally had outlanded his opponent as the championship rounds approached, and he responded with a dominant stanza in the eleventh.
The final period saw the decision up in the air, and Crawford started to put the pressure on but his incredible 11-fight KO streak dating back to 2016 went up in smoke as we went the full distance.
‘Bud’ now appears to have set up a huge showdown with Canelo Alvarez, which could take place in 2025.
Saudi boxing chief H.E. Turki Alalshikh expressed his interest in making the showdown, and revealed before the opening bell that he has already tabled a huge offer to Alvarez.
The Mexican will first fight Edgar Berlanga in a defence of his unified world titles on September 14, and promoters will want to reach an agreement for the bumper showdown, ahead of time if he beats the undefeated Puerto Rican.
Alvarez will fancy his chances against the American, given Crawford would have to put on another 14lbs to accept the challenge.
