Terence Crawford to face 154-pound beltholder Israil Madrimov

Terence Crawford finally has his next dance partner.

The No. 1 fighter pound-for-pound will move up from 147 pounds to 154 to challenge Israil Madrimov for the Uzbek’s WBA title on Aug. 3 in Los Angeles, ESPN is reporting.

The fight will be promoted by Saudi Arabian authorities, who will be presenting their first card outside the Middle East country.

A news conference to formally announce the bout is set for Wednesday in New York, according to the outlet.

Jermell Charlo was designated as the WBA’s 154-pound “champion in recess” when he made the decision to challenge 168-pound beltholder Canelo Alvarez in September.

Charlo had petitioned the sanctioning to secure a fight with Madrimov. He later agreed to step aside for Crawford to face Madrimov. However, Charlo wanted to be reinstated as “super” champion, which would mean that Madrimov would be demoted to “regular” champion.

The WBA has yet to make a ruling on Charlo’s petition.

Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) hasn’t fought since his sensational seventh-round stoppage of fellow pound-for-pounder Errol Spence Jr. in a 147-pound title unification bout last July 29. He retains three of the four welterweight belts.

Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) won the vacant WBA title by stopping Magomed Kurbanov in five rounds on March 8. He’s based in Indio, Calif.

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