140-lb champion Teofimo Lopez was not impressed with Terence Crawford's performance in his victory over WBA light middleweight champion Israel Madrimov last Saturday.
(Source: Melina Pizano/Game Room)
Crawford Looked Dim
Teofimo says Crawford, 36, (41-0, 31 KOs) showed his age, looked sluggish, and was beaten hard by Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs). Crawford won a 12-round unanimous decision at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. Crawford was saved by the judges, who gave him scores of 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113.
This fight proved that Crawford is long in the tooth and has little time left before retirement. If he continues to fight for a long time, he will start losing because he will not rely on the judges to bail him out on questionable decisions.
They gave Crawford a break this time against a foreign fighter from Uzbekistan, but he won't be relying on that experience for two or three more years if he intends to fight the top fighters.
Age: Fast Factor
Crawford's one year break after his victory over Errol Spence last year in July 2023 is very old, which is not surprising. Sometimes when people reach 35, their age tends to increase. That seems to be the case with Crawford.
He looked seven years old since the Spence fight and looked like a 40+ year old against Madrimov. Crawford could only throw a jab, which didn't work. I watched the fight twice, I beat Madrimov 9-3.
Nebraska native Crawford was the picture of a dead striker last night, and luckily, the judges were willing to give him the win for good old fashioned sake.
In the post-fight interview, Crawford immediately called out Canelo, saying, “If the money is right, we fight. I will relax and enjoy this win.”
It is not clear how much money Crawford expects to earn from fighting Canelo because he will not fight more than others. Furthermore, with the way Crawford looked, he would probably lose against a killer like Jaron 'Boots' Ennis.
“Those years are reaching Crawford. Let's see what he does next. I don't think he should fight Canelo,” Teofimo Lopez told the media after watching Terence Crawford play Israel Madrimov last Saturday night.
Lopez is right. Age is catching up with Crawford, and if he doesn't get the Canelo fight, he should focus on getting the highest paying fight he can because he won't be undefeated for long against top-level opponents.
“I believe that I did enough because I was a champion,” said Madrimov. “I was protecting the belt, and I was controlling the rhythm.”
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