Terence Crawford vs Israil Madrimov Odds, Prediction: Bet on a Knockout

Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov Odds, Prediction

Here's everything you need to know about the Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov odds for the boxing pay-per-view on Saturday, August 3.

Will Terence Crawford be tested?

And also, who is Israil Madrimov?

Those are the questions many will wonder ahead of this weekend.

Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) will face WBA super welterweight champion Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) in hopes of getting a world title in a fourth weight class in his career.

The former undisputed champion at 140 and 147 pounds is making the jump to 154 in the first we'll see of him since his shocking dismantling of Errol Spence Jr. last summer.

Crawford, the arguable No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer on Earth, knocked out every opponent he had at welterweight and is on a KO streak of 11 fights going back to 2016. Madrimov might have his own advantages, which we'll explore in the next section.

Here's my Crawford vs. Madrimov prediction for Saturday.

Crawford vs. Madrimov Breakdown

Crawford is projected to be the smaller guy here, but that might not actually be the case.

He became a pretty big welterweight toward the end of his run, which one could tell by simply watching the Spence fight. His 5-foot-8 height about matches Madrimov, and he'll also present a near six-inch length advantage with his 74-inch reach against the 154-pound champion.

Crawford hasn't fought twice in a year since 2019, so while this will be considered a "long layoff," it's been par for the course for him for a half-decade and hasn't diminished his performance one bit. Crawford had 11 months, 12 months and 12.5 months between fights before facing Spence last July over seven months removed from his previous outing in December.

What Crawford excels at has translated to every weight class he's been in because he's that good and is the most versatile, balanced fighter in boxing. And the only others in his class are his elite pound-for-pound comrades in Naoya Inoue and Oleksandr Usyk.

Crawford is also the best switch-hitter that boxing has seen maybe since Marvin Hagler in the 1980s (unless you'd elect peak Tyson Fury for a more recent mention). But the point is, he's overperformed relative to any expectation or lack thereof bestowed upon him because he's just the best executioner in the sport the once a year we see him.

Again, he hasn't boxed anyone to a decision in seven years.

We haven't needed scorecards for a Terence Crawford fight since Barack Obama was in office.

Madrimov, good luck to you.

Madrimov actually has the age advantage here. Crawford is 36 and will be 37 in September. It's a drawback that may come to haunt him someday.

Madrimov doesn't have the pro experience, but the Uzbekistan native won't turn 30 until next year. He was a successful amateur before making his pro debut in 2018, winning the 2017 Asian Championships and 2018 Asian Games. But even he isn't one of these guys from overseas with multiple Olympic runs or multiple amateur world championships.

He moved quickly up the ranks, and his second-best win is probably over Michael Soro via ninth-round TKO in December 2021. They had a technical draw in the rematch seven months later due to a bad head clash in Round 3.

The best is, of course, his vacant title-winning bout over undefeated Magomed Kurbanov, whom Madrimov stopped in Round 5 on the Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou undercard in March.

Crawford vs. Madrimov Prediction

I'm not gonna be the guy who bets against Bud Crawford.

And I'm not gonna be the guy who bets him on points for the first time in seven years.

I'm just not.

The bet is Crawford by KO/TKO/DQ on BetMGM at -125. This is a week to keep it simple with that method-of-victory prop bet.

Elsewhere on the card, there are some legitimately captivating bouts that I want to mention.

Expected on the main card is Isaac Cruz defending his WBA super lightweight title vs. fellow power puncher Jose Valenzuela. There's also former unified heavyweight champ Andy Ruiz facing Jarrell Miller, whom he filled in for to beat Anthony Joshua in one of boxing's biggest upsets ever in 2019. And there's rising undefeated heavyweight Jared Anderson in a dangerous fight with fellow contender Martin Bakole.

They'll all be difficult to bet on.

Cruz will likely stop Valenzuela, which is at -150 at BetMGM. We've seen Cruz's weaknesses: It's lateral movement, it's counter-puncher, and it's length. Valenzuela is going to be in the pocket and has been stopped already.

Finally, I wouldn't call these straight picks yet, but both Miller (+275) and Bakole (+160) are live underdogs. Ruiz hasn't boxed since September 2022, and even by scoring three knockdowns, he just edged a 43-year-old Luis Ortiz. And Anderson is fun and powerful but flawed and hittable. I'd lean Anderson by stoppage at +162 on bet365, but Bakole at +220 to win by stoppage is worth a look.

If the latter two bouts become full-blown plays, I'll log them on the Action App before the opening bell.

Enjoy the fights and don't go broke!

The Picks: Terence Crawford by KO/TKO/DQ (-125 at BetMGM) | Isaac Cruz by KO/TKO/DQ (-150 at BetMGM)