Terence Crawford to face Israil Madrimov for WBA title at 154

Terence Crawford will be moving up in weight to fight Israil Madrimov.

Terence Crawford will reportedly be moving up to 154 lbs to face WBA titleholder Israil Madrimov in an Aug. 2 main event from Los Angeles, promoted by Turki Alalshikh’s Riyadh Season group out of Saudi Arabia.

ESPN.com’s Mike Coppinger had the news today.

This follows news that Jermell Charlo, who was named champion in recess by the WBA, would be invoking his right to face Madrimov, who won the vacant title on Mar. 8, stopping Magomed Kurbanov in the fifth round.

Charlo and Premier Boxing Champions have made clear to the WBA that they are willing to step back and allow Crawford vs Madrimov to happen first, which could be a good move, business-wise, as Crawford vs Charlo — which has been an out-of-ring rivalry for some time — would be much bigger money for Jermell than a fight with Madrimov.

This would be Turki Alalshikh’s first show officially promoted outside of Saudi Arabia.

The 36-year-old Crawford (40-0, 31 KO) has won world titles at 135, 140, and 147 lbs, going undisputed at both 140 and 147. He fully unified the welterweight division last year with a one-sided beatdown of Errol Spence Jr in a long-anticipated showdown. There had been talk of a rematch, and Spence had the contractual option, but the window to make it happen has long closed.

Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KO) is a 29-year-old from Uzbekistan who is a top fighter at the weight and a legitimate challenge, at least as legitimate as anyone at the weight might be for Crawford, who is a pound-for-pound elite and arguably the very best boxer in the world today.