Crawford won by unanimous decision with scores of 116-112 and 115-113 twice. The victory ended his 11-fight stoppage streak but showed off his pound-for-pound skills throughout the bout.
Madrimov kept things competitive with his feints and impressive movement. The fight turned out closer than many expected, leading to some debate about the scorecards.
"I think [Crawford] had a lot of difficulties with [Madrimov] tonight. The movement, everything like that, the herky-jerky style, I think that was confusing Crawford a lot, especially with that long layoff. You know, it's boxing. Boxing is business … I look at it as 115-113, Madrimov."
Two-weight world champion Teofimo Lopez shared these thoughts on The Stomping Ground. Lopez continues to call for a fight with Crawford at super-welterweight.
Eddie Hearn, Madrimov's promoter, strongly disagreed with the scorecards. He believes Crawford didn't do enough to take the belt from the champion.
At 36 years old, Crawford has now held titles at lightweight, unified the super-lightweight division, and become undisputed at welterweight. He'll likely look to unify belts in this new weight class next.
A much-discussed bout with Canelo Alvarez seems off the table for now. Turki Alalshikh, the Riyadh Season organizer who's been behind boxing's biggest shows lately, made that call after nearly a year of pursuit.