Terence Crawford’s next opponent is officially announced; ‘Bud’ to fight for WBA title in his super welterweight debut

Terence Crawford's search for a new opponent has finally come to an end, with the former undisputed welterweight champion set to move up divisions and challenge for the WBA super welterweight title.

Having last competed in July 2023, the Nebraska native will no doubt be itching to return to the ring.

According to ESPN's Mike Coppinger, who broke the news on April 19, 'Bud' is set to challenge Israil Madrimov for the WBA title at 154 pounds. The event will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Both men will enter the bout with undefeated records of 40-0 and 10-0-1, respectively, with Madrimov securing the belt in his previous fight, a TKO win against Magomed Kubranov.

ESPN took to Instagram to report the following:

"Terence Crawford will move up in weight to challenge Israil Madrimov for his WBA Jr. middleweight title on August 3 in Los Angeles, sources told @mikecoppinger."

See the post below:

Despite moving up a division, Crawford will hold a significant reach advantage over Madrimov, with the pair having a reach of 74 inches and 68.5 inches, respectively.

They are both roughly the same height, with 'Bud' measuring 5ft. 8" compared to the champion's 5ft. 8.5". It will be fascinating to see if the American's greater professional experience will prove to be the deciding factor come fight night.

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What happened last time Terence Crawford fought?

Terence Crawford's last performance was, without a doubt, the greatest showing of his career.

'Bud' faced off against Errol Spence Jr. in one of the biggest boxing fights of the last 30 years. Both men entered the fight undefeated, holding records of 39-0 and 28-0, respectively.

All four welterweight world titles would also be on the line, meaning that the winner would be crowned the first undisputed champion at 147 pounds in boxing's four-belt era.

Furthermore, both boxers were ranked inside the pound-for-pound top five rankings at the time of the bout.

With the sense of anticipation ahead of fight night almost palpable, what transpired could not have been predicted by even the most shrewd of oracles. Crawford dominated the fight from the outset, dropping 'The Truth' on three occasions en route to a ninth-round TKO win.

To top it off, the Nebraska native became the first male boxer to be crowned an undisputed champion in two weight divisions.

The level of domination displayed by 'Bud' has led to questions surrounding Spence Jr.'s state of mind before and during the fight. Ryan Garcia recently accused him of being "high" during the fight, but those claims are unfounded.

See Terence Crawford's post after beating Spence Jr. below: