After a long wait, Terence Crawford will have a resounding return to the boxing ring, headlining a star-studded card on August 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. The stadium has a capacity of 22,000 seats in the stands, plus there will be thousands of spots as part of the on-field space.
According to BoxingScene, the huge Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles was initially considered, however, the chosen venue seems to have satisfied Bud’s promoter.
The show will also feature the Arab fighter, Turki Alalshikh, in his debut in the United States, as well as the Mexican Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz and the stellar return of ‘Destroyer’, Andy Ruiz, who has gone 18 months without a fight.
Although Crawford heads the bill, in search of a fourth title in a different division, in reality, his fight does not appear particularly attractive against the WBA super welterweight champion, Israil Madrimov, who only has a record of (10-0-1, 7 KO’s).
It’s for that reason the Mexican talent has been brought on board to support the event in an Aztec marketplace such as Los Angeles.
As a result, the event will feature ‘Pitbull’ Cruz‘s first defense of his WBA 140 lbs. Title. Meanwhile, Andy Ruiz, after being scorned by other important rivals at heavyweight, including Deontay Wilder, will return to the ring after 8 months of absence, last defeating Cuban Luis Ortiz by unanimous decision in September 2022.
The return of Terence Crawford and the rivals of the Pitbull and Andy Ruiz
After Crawford was unable to agree to a big purse in a fight against Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, the American fighter is looking to move up from the super welterweight division, in a not-so-dramatic upgrade to super middleweight.
To make the fight more attractive, the WBO version of the interim title in this division will also be contested, to give Sebastian Fundora time to recover from a broken nose.
The Pitbull (26-2-1, 18 KOs) won his belt with an electrifying eighth round knockout against former champion Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero on March 30. It was the co-main event of Fundora’s two-belt super welterweight title victory over Australian Tim Tszyu in Las Vegas.
The Mexican is on the cusp of a big purse and has already received a stiffer challenge from the emboldened Ryan Garcia, after a convincing win over Devin Haney on Saturday in New York.
His opponent for this event will be fellow Mexican, Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela (13-2, 9 KO’s), who defeated Chris Colbert in December.
Meanwhile, Andy Ruiz (35-2, 22 KO’s), who is still looking to salvage his reputation as the first Mexican-born world champion in the heavyweight division, is looking to get back on track after defeating Luis Ortiz by unanimous decision.
Ruiz, at 34 years old, is trying to earn a new opportunity against important fighters such as Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk in a division loaded with serious contenders.
For this particular show, his opponent will be Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller (26-1-1, 22 KOs), who will go into the bout on the heels of fighting visibly overweight in his December 23 loss to Daniel Dubois in Saudi Arabia. With that in mind, we could be in for a 600-plus pound fight come fight night.
Another possible fight that has been discussed for the card is a farewell fight for former three-division champion Abner Mares in a trilogy against four-division champion Leo Santa Cruz, although the fight is not yet signed and, should a deal not be reached, could be held at a later date.
