Busy Weekend in Boxing and UFC

Crawford Remains Undefeated

Terence Crawford remained undefeated with a close unanimous decision on Saturday at Los Angeles’ BMO stadium in boxing news on a busy fight night. In UFC news, Umar Nurmagomedov (18-0), the younger cousin of retired legend Khabib Nurmagomedov, wowed the crowd in Abu Dhabi with a unanimous thumping of Cory Sandhagen.

First to the boxing ring, where Crawford stepped up in weight and almost paid for it before becoming a four-weight champion against Israil Madrimov on a busy fight night.

“Israil was a tough competitor” Crawford said after upping his mark to 41-0. “I knew he was going to be tough. … He’s real strong, he’s durable, he took a lot of good shots and he got me to Round 12. … He had fast feet, good rhythm upstairs. … Israil was waiting to counter me just like I was trying to counter him. He was disciplined; he didn’t come in throwing wild shots like I intended him to. And he fought a good fight.

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Future Uncertain for Crawford

The question of what comes next for Crawford looms large. He was a big favorite in sports betting odds against Madrimov but did not deliver a typical dominant win on this busy fight night.

This was only Madrimov’s 12th fight and it was his first loss against 10 wins and a draw. That brings into question whether Crawford has a future in the 154-pound class. His career is closer to a close than a long run.

“I ain’t gonna lie” Crawford said. “He’s strong … he got me to Round 12. … This guy is big.”

There has been talk of a dream fight between Canelo Alvarez and Crawford. It isn’t signed and after the effort on Saturday, that could be one that is tabled for a long time, if not forever.

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“It is clear that Crawford is not the same as he was” junior middleweight champ Sebastian Fundora’s promoter Sampson Lewkowicz told BoxingScene Sunday. “(Crawford) looked small against Madrimov.” Lewkowicz said, so to consider a move to 168 pounds against the dominant champion “would be a joke.”

Few boxers retire undefeated. Crawford must decide if he wants to step up again and again to face Alvarez or leave the sport with a “0” in his loss column. When you have won 41 fights, there is no shame in deciding to take that option.

The best performance of the night at BMO might go to Eminem who put on a mini-concert on this busy fight night.

UFC Review

Umar Nurmagomedov holds himself and his family to a high standard in the Octagon. He did not think he lived up it in vanquishing Sandhagen.

“I’m not happy”Nurmagomedov told reporters at the post-fight interview. “It was a good performance on the striking, but if we’re talking about grappling and how I control him, it was not good. I thought I would maul him on the ground, but he’s tough, he’s good. Cody is too good and has hard kicks, and he’s a tough man. I think he has more experience than me in the UFC cage, but I win, and I’m happy today I win.”

One person who was extremely interested in the bout was Sean O’Malley, who could be looking at Nurmagomedov as his next opponent for the bantamweight title.

“It looked like [Nurmagomedov] did win but again that was a very close fight” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. “Cory is, in my opinion, one of the best pound-for-pound guys in the world, so for Umar to be ranked No. 10 — which, a lot of the guys wouldn’t fight him, so I’m not surprised that he didn’t have that many high-level fights up until this or at least high-level, popular opponents. No one in the UFC wanted to fight this guy. Incredible performance by both guys really. Cory did a really good job shutting down Umar’s offensive takedowns and wrestling. Striking was pretty close. Umar looked like he landed harder shots. That’s as high level of a fight as it gets.”

SummerSlam Builds for WWE Future

There may not be sports betting odds on WWE matches but there is great interest. More than 57,000 attended the SummerSlam event in Cleveland, and it provided plenty of thrills on this busy fight night. Roman Reigns made his first appearance since WrestleMania, and the crowd popped big for the WWE Superstar.

The love triangle between Dom Mysterio, Rhea Ripley, and Liv Morgan saw a twist with Mysterio turning on Ripley and being turned on by Morgan.

Multi-sport athlete and businessman on too many platforms delivered the move of the event. Check this out and check out his Cleveland Browns garb.

For more UFC Odds, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.


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