Terence Crawford and Israil Madrimov make weight
Aug 2, 2024 • 4:01 PM ET
LOS ANGELES – Terence Crawford’s bid for a world title in a fourth weight class and Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz’s quest toward an extended run as a world champion have cleared Friday’s weigh-in screening, heightening the buildup for Saturday night’s debut Saudi Arabia-backed card in downtown L.A.
Three-division and twice-undisputed champion Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) weighed in at 153.4 pounds for his junior-middleweight debut against World Boxing Association championship main event against Uzbekistan’s champion Israil Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs). Madrimov weighed in at 154.
Mexico’s WBA junior-welterweight champion popular Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KOs) also weighed in at the limit, 140 pounds, while his countryman contender Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela (13-2, 9 KOs) weighed 139.8.
The two title fights headline the first Riyadh Season-sponsored boxing card in the U.S. after Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshiikh has presided over the undisputed heavyweight championship and other heavyweight-topped cards in Saudi Arabia over the past year.
Heavyweights are part of this show, too, with former champion Andy Ruiz Jr. of Southern California weighing 274.4 pounds for his behemoth battle against Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, who tipped the scale at 305.6 pounds.
Top-five heavyweight contender Jared Anderson weighed 252.4 for his bout against Congo’s Martin Bakole (284.4).
In other bouts, unbeaten David Morrell weighed 174.8 pounds for his light-heavyweight debut against Radivoje Kalajhdzic (174.4) and Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz of Cuba was 134 pounds for his lightweight bout against Mexico’s veteran Antonio Moran (134.8).
Lance Pugmire has been a full-time boxing writer for nearly 20 years, serving now as BoxingScene’s U.S. Senior Writer and assistant producer for ProBoxTV’s “BoxingScene Today.” Pugmire capped a near 20-year career at the Los Angeles Times (sports investigations, NHL/MLB beat work, law enforcement/courts and boxing/UFC) to join The Athletic, and then USA Today. Pugmire’s stint at The Times started with the first Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fight and the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jnr then-record pay-per-view, leading through a slew of ringside assignments at major bouts, including Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Canelo and the Canelo-Golovkin trilogy. Lance’s appreciation for boxing is rooted in his admiration and appreciation for the fighters, gladiators who have proven to be the most forthcoming and candid of all the athletes he has interviewed over a career dating to 1990. Lance was honored to be named the 2022 winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence and he’s collected many BWAA writing awards in categories ranging from breaking news to deep-dive long features.
