We are officially in fight week for the stacked fight card live from the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, CA, where Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) looks to become a four-division champion when he faces the WBA champion Israil Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs). The fight will also have the interim WBO junior middleweight title on the line, raising the stakes even more for this premier matchup. With Matchroom and DAZN hosting the promotion for the event, the latter put together their “40 Days” two-episode series in support of the event. Here is a breakdown of each episode, which, in total, ran close to 25 minutes.
Crawford vs. Madrimov “40 Days” Episode 1
When the first episode begins, it’s a commercial to sell the fight with various video clips showing old fights, training camp footage, and voices of the narrator and multiple media members. It then goes into the episode, which takes place in Colorado Springs, CO, and Terence Crawford is seen on a track with his team warming up. Crawford says the first week is always hard as he has to acclimate to the climate [in Colorado]. After a short race amongst the team, the cameras head to the hot environment of Indio, CA, where Israil Madrimov trains out of Joel Diaz’s gym.
Madrimov is seen running through a residential neighborhood as he talks about how things are in his native Uzbekistan. Madrimov’s strength and conditioning coach mentions how much of a rockstar he is along with his fellow Uzbekistan fighters (Bektimir Melikuziev, MJ Akhmadaliev, and Bakhodir Jalolov) back in their home country. He compares their star power in Uzbekistan to Manny Pacquiao in the Philippines.
The DAZN crew then goes to New York City for the official press conference announcing the event on August 3 at the BMO in Los Angeles, CA. Eddie Hearn is describing both fighters and their accomplishments throughout their careers.
The camera crew returns to Colorado Springs, but this time inside the Triple Threat Gym, where Crawford is training. Crawford is seen working the bag, and the video clips of Shawn Porter, Sergio Mora & Eddie Hearn talking about the fight start to play at different points. Crawford realizes he’s not a young champion anymore and says, “As I get older, you never know how your body is going to react, but I’m confident that I’ll be good. I’m looking forward to feeling more energized and stronger. 147 was tough. The last fight took a lot out of me at the weigh-ins. As you can see, me training so hard, my body just bounced back to normal because it’s used to going through that trauma.”
The episode returns to Indio, CA, specifically inside Joel Diaz’s gym. Madrimov goes into his amateur career and not making the Olympic team. He then discussed becoming a pro and some of his dreams that he looks to achieve. Madrimov goes into missing his daughter, who lives back in Uzbekistan. Then Crawford talks about the same topic, stating that although his father wasn’t around for life moments, he wants to ensure he is around for his kids.
The episode concludes at 11 minutes and 14 seconds while previewing the second episode.
Crawford vs. Madrimov “40 Days” Episode 2
The episode began with Crawford revisiting his championship rise through the ranks. He feels the victory over Ricky Burns is still the best moment of his life. Then it quickly moves to Madrimov and his rise through the ranks, as spoken by Chris Mannix and Eddie Hearn. Madrimov is then seen taking an ice bath after sparring in the gym. The episode goes back to Crawford in the gym as the narrator highlights Steven Nelson and Keyshawn Davis as fighters who have helped in the past to get ready for his opponents.
The second episode took a serious tone when they went into Crawford’s strength and conditioning coach going through a severe accident and being told that he would never walk again. He proved the doctors wrong and that’s what helps motivate Crawford.
The focus then shifts to Crawford’s last fight against Errol Spence Jr. in July 2023. Crawford’s trainer ‘BoMac’ said they knew they needed to get through Spence to be considered a pound-for-pound king and did just that. He also mentioned that the way Crawford stopped Spence was the “icing on the cake.” Crawford spoke about the homecoming parade being one of the biggest moments of his life.
Madrimov is then seen lying on a coach with a recovery sleeve for his legs as he watches Crawford vs Spence on television. Then he stops by a gym in Coachella, where he practices jujitsu on others in the gym. Afterward, a training montage for Crawford and Madrimov plays as they give their final words before the episode’s conclusion, which runs right around the same time as the first one.
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