Terence Crawford aims to become a four-division champion against the undefeated Israil Madrimov when the two face off this Saturday in the Los Angeles Coliseum. 

Crawford challenges WBA junior middleweight champion Madrimov with an eye on a major future fight, whereas Madrimov hopes to stake his claim as a premier fighter ready to score an upset.

Boxing odds have Crawford as a -750 favorite and Madrimov as a +475 underdog. Here are my best free Crawford vs. Madrimov predictions for August 3.

Madrimov vs Crawford prediction and pick

Fight analysis

If it were up to Terence Crawford, he’d be hitting the weights right now in an attempt to bulk up to 168 pounds for a dream match with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. For now, Crawford will have to settle for doing it the old-fashioned way as he attempts to win a title in a fourth weight class, something he is primed to do, against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov.

Though Crawford is 36 and started off as a lightweight, his skill and size make the 154-pound division likely the highest division he can compete in without facing any physical deficits.

From a skill perspective, he doesn’t have much to fear from Madrimov. The Uzbek amateur standout has rapidly worked his way up the ranks and won a vacant title in his last fight against Magomed Kurbanov. He’s fighting the appropriate level of opposition at this stage of his career, but that means he’s taking a huge step up in class against a master strategist like Crawford.

Madrimov has good technique and seems to have good power, but that’s to be expected against the level of opposition he’s faced so far. I think this would have been a more dangerous fight for Crawford down the line if Madrimov had a few more fights to develop, but even then, I don’t see him evolving into a world-beater.

Crawford at welterweight was essentially the perfect mix of power, speed, strength, and skill, so it will be interesting to see what the move up in weight will mean for him in this later stage of his career. I don’t believe there is anyone I’d comfortably favor to trouble Crawford at 154 or 160 pounds. He’s an all-time great coming off the best performance of his career, and we aren’t going to witness a dramatic drop in class just 10 months removed from his career-defining win over Errol Spence against a green opponent. Madrimov is a champion with training wheels, and Crawford will end up being too much for him.

I am picking Crawford to pick up where he left off in the Spence fight and deliver another strong night, ending with his hand raised in victory and another title added to his collection.

Best best analysis

Though Crawford is going to be too much for Madrimov, the younger fighter’s youth, size, and strong footwork might get him out of some bad early spots, as Crawford tends to use the early rounds to download his opponents. If anything, Madrimov should last until the middle rounds. By that time, Crawford will have implemented his adjustments and will start to step on the gas, executing crisp counters and slowly walking his foe down.

Madrimov will eventually run out of options, as has been the case with everyone who’s faced Crawford in recent years, and the punishment will only accumulate as the fight nears its inevitable conclusion.

Eventually, Crawford will grind Madrimov down and drop him with a body shot, scoring his 11th straight knockout win.