Riyadh Season was spectacular, except the Terrance Crawford versus Israil Madrimov fight

Riyadh Season made a grand entrance into the American boxing scene with its first-ever U.S. card

The first chapter of Riyadh Season's U.S. boxing saga was written in bold letters with a truly magnificent event in Los Angeles /

By Latame Phillips

On Saturday, Terrance Crawford clinched the WBA junior-middleweight title from Israil Madrimov at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. This event marked the first Riyadh Season card staged in the U.S., and it was nothing short of grand. The atmosphere was electric, with pyrotechnics during the fighters' ring walks and a stunning fireworks show as the National Anthem was sung. A 15-minute concert before the main event added to the excitement, with celebrities like Matthew Perry, Katie Basinger, and Scottie Pippen in attendance.

However, the main event proved to be a puzzling affair for fans. By the second round, the crowd's restlessness was palpable, and by round six, boos echoed through the stadium. Crawford, who had knocked out his last 11 opponents, struggled unexpectedly against Madrimov. Reflecting on his performance, Crawford stated, “The right hand wasn’t bothering me; I wasn’t worried too much about the right hand. He landed it a couple of times at the end of the round when he was trying to steal the round. I was trying to counter but at the same time he had a good game plan, had a lot of feints, and I was just trying to dictate when he was going to come – a lot of times I was wrong."

The dominant fighter who dominated Errol Spence and forced Shawn Porter's corner to throw in the towel seemed absent. Ringside, notable fighters like Shakur Stevenson and Vasyl Lomachenko were seen angrily shouting at each other.  Maybe it was that they disagreed on why Crawford was off his game?  Meanwhile, Jaron 'Boots' Ennis, fresh off a spectacular win two weeks ago, is no doubt licking his chops, eager to face this seemingly diminished Crawford.

A potential mega-fight against Canelo Alvarez now appears distant, with questions lingering if Madrimov's size posed too great a challenge. Madrimov himself commented, “I fought the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and I believe that I did enough because I was the champion. I was defending the belt, and I was controlling the rhythm, and I felt very comfortable inside of the ring.”

As boxing fans, we can only hope that the next time Crawford steps into the ring, we see the dominant force we've come to know. Crawford, we're begging you—boxing needs you back at your best.