Israil Madrimov: The Breakdown

(Photo provides by Aliko Frolov)

His nickname may be ‘The Dream’ but Israil Madrimov is quickly proving to be a nightmare for the 154lbs division. 

The 25 year-old Uzbekistan native has only had 5 fights so far in his professional career, but is already turning heads and catching the attention of hardcore fans with his performances. A highly decorated amateur with over 350 wins to his name, Madrimov is on the fast-track to a title shot in a wide open 154lbs division: and from what we’ve seen so far, he looks poised to emerge as the dominant force at the weight. Having been fortunate enough to interview Israil, we wanted to go one step further and deep dive into the specifics of his game in order to see why the Uzbek is considered one of the sport’s most promising prospects. Of course, there is only so much to go on when analysing the game of a fighter with so few professional bouts, but there’s already plenty to be excited about.

At first glance Madrimov’s style may come across as unorthodox and occasionally even a little wild, but make no mistake, his skillset is built on precision and exceptional fundamentals. While it’s possible to be an unpredictable, spectacular boxer without committing to solidifying the basics, getting them right first only enhances a fighter’s options when it comes to adding the flashier things back in, and Madrimov is a great example of this. 

Movement and positioning

You can see this commitment when you look at his footwork. Initial impressions of Madrimov tend to center on the extreme angles he takes as he steps towards and pivots past his opponents, and we’ll get to those skills later, but the heart of his game lies in something much simpler: his stance, and the control it gives him over his movement.

Madrimov tends to start off in a position sitting a little over his back leg, with his center of balance well behind his lead foot. Meanwhile he keeps his front foot active, able to slide or bounce in with it very quickly. Making sure his front knee has plenty of give in it (more than many boxers employing a similar back-foot-heavy stance) gives him the ability to dart in-and-out, meaning he can manipulate range in both directions and move unpredictably. The strength of this principle is the foundation for everything that comes after.   

Here Madrimov demonstrates his active lead foot, feinting and adjusting position before the bigger final step to close distance. He also shows that by crouching low with both knees bent, he is able both to keep his weight back a bit even as he slides forward, and spring back out to a safe distance very quickly after his attack.

Another area Madrimov takes a lot of care is in the placement of his feet, body and head as he moves and the advantages this gives him both defensively and in finding angles of attack. He is a fighter who covers a great deal of distance very quickly, usually with his hands quite low. There are inherent risks in fighting like this, but he mitigates a lot of them by taking care to spend the minimal amount of time on his opponents’ center line. When outside, he is constantly circling and forcing his opponent to turn, and his approaches are typically angled to take him even further outside their line of attack. When he does step across, it’s also moving to an angle well on their far side and then escaping, rather than engaging them in extended combinations and turning them from in close.

The clip above is a good illustration of Madrimov’s game coming together - look how the Uzbek is constantly changing his angles of attack, never standing directly in front of his opponent, and is consequently off his opponent's centre line. The stance-switching creates further openings, and throws off Navarro’s timing.

He also has superb upper-body movement and uses this in conjunction with slips and level changes to take positions where he can hit an opponent but an opponent can’t hit him. Proactive head movement before and after punching allows Madrimov to avoid return fire from opponents, and although he often doesn’t look to tie an opponent up in the pocket, his attention to remaining defensively responsible is impressive.

Madrimov will often bend low and place his head outside an opponent’s lead shoulder when exiting the pocket, ensuring he remains an elusive target.

There are few positions more vulnerable in boxing than that of turning to face a fighter who is to your side but already facing you, while conversely few safer places to be than outside your opponent waiting for them to turn. Madrimov creates situations like this frequently, being very good at safely taking the outside angle on an opponent and turning them into a shot.
However, since he is very dedicated to taking the outside angle, opponents can eventually start to anticipate this and react accordingly. Variation and unpredictability are some of the hallmarks of his game, and taking the inside angle more may create more offensive opportunities as well as keeping opponents second-guessing. Madrimov has spoken before about how he looks to incorporate elements of Lomachenko’s footwork into his style, and this is something that the Ukrainian does well - changing the angle he takes when opponent’s start to show signs of adjusting.

Madrimov steps outside of his opponent’s lead foot and Navarro - focused on the head whilst turning - leaves himself vulnerable to the ensuing overhand left. Deception is an essential component of the overhand, and Madrimov is already showing a strong grasp of this principle.

Later on in the fight, Navarro is ready for this and, when Madrimov steps outside, is already in a defensive posture and ready to fend him off. As he moves up the levels this could become more risky for the Uzbek, as prepared opponents with good enough timing could pivot with a punch ready as he steps and catch him before his stance is set.

Another thing you may notice is that Madrimov has a habit of turning his lead foot in very sharply as he steps forward. Sometimes, when he steps short, this can go wrong and leave him side-on to an opponent, but for the most part it gives him even greater control of his back-and-forward movement. It also allows him, by letting his body follow the turn to varying degrees, to change the angle of his punches without changing either the punch itself or the actual angle of approach.  

Rhythm and feints

All of the above complements his understanding of rhythm, and the manipulation of it, to round off one of the strongest aspects of his game. In our interview with Israil, he mentioned how his style incorporates elements of Emmanuel Augustus, and ‘the Drunken Master’s’ influence is noticeable straight away when watching him. Augustus was a fighter who played with rhythm constantly, using his wild, dancing style to pause and then explode into approaches and punches. Madrimov doesn’t dance, but he mixes up his timing brilliantly, and varies his speed as well as using throwaway shots to play havoc with an opponent’s timing and anticipation. This effect is exacerbated by the fact that, like Augustus, he can pause his whole approach and not just the punch, which gives him the added benefit of being very hard to time a counter on.

Notice how Madrimov slightly delays the right hand in his one-two.

And shortly after, he plays with rhythm once again by firing a sharp straight left to the body on the half-beat. Madrimov also showcases a neat level-change, which is something we’ll be looking at later on.

Along with varying rhythm, Madrimov is outstanding at employing feints in order to disguise his entries - something that, as we mentioned earlier, makes him difficult to time coming in. One mild criticism, though, is that since he is prone to raiding from very far out and doesn’t consistently use feeler shots in order to measure range, he can sometimes misjudge distance when he looks to close it. So far he’s gotten away with leaping in from a great distance, but he isn’t Roy Jones Jr. (who is?) so against elite competition he may not quite have the explosiveness to rely on his athleticism from that kind of range. His proactive upper-body movement and the positioning we talked about above does take a lot of the sting from this- he isn’t leaping in blindly- but we may see this hyper-explosive style being refined as he steps up to world-level competition. He’s only 5 fights in, so there’s plenty of time to iron out any rough edges.

Madrimov is ultimately at his best in transition, rather than fighting strictly on the inside and outside. There are promising examples of a developing inside game, though. He uses his shoulder to bump opponents back, forearms to both block shots and frame, and positions his head well. As we’ve discussed already, Madrimov is largely able to overwhelm opponents with positioning and there remains questions regarding his defensive depth in prolonged exchanges against elite competition. But there are encouraging signs, particularly in how he is able to angle out. 

There’s a lot of things to like here - in particular Madrimov’s use of his forearms. He blocks a right hand, flashes two throwaway shots upstairs to disguise a level change to the body, and a few seconds later uses his left forearm to frame and line Navarro up for the right uppercut. At the end of the sequence, Madrimov pushes up with his southpaw lead shoulder to straighten Navarro up and compromise his balance.

Finishing touches 

Madrimov is a very capable switch-hitter, with some sharp tools in his locker. His hands-low, head leaning slightly forward style usually elicits a jab from an opponent, which Madrimov counters with his split-entry straight left (the same technique used to great effect by Manny Pacquiao). His frequent switches can often simply overwhelm opponents too, and Madrimov’s jab from the southpaw stance is a sharp and accurate weapon that he can utilise for a variety of purposes.

He’s also comfortable on the occasions that he is forced to move backwards. Although it’s not his preferred way of fighting, Madrimov’s timing and control of range allow him to keep sliding back and popping his opponent until he feels comfortable enough to step around, make them turn and take back the initiative, and he’s also ready to clinch up and briefly spoil if he needs to, so keeping him on the backfoot for any length of time will be tricky for any fighter to accomplish.

Another thing that immediately stands out about the Uzbek is his commitment to body-punching. Jabs, lead right hands, lead left hands, hooks to the ribs - everything is on the menu. He’ll often employ throwaway punches in order to manipulate an opponent’s guard and create openings, and by establishing a threat to the body Madrimov makes his entries more unpredictable as well as gradually breaking an opponent down.

As early as round one, Madrimov looks to invest in the body. This will pay dividends later on in the fight, as Navarro will gradually lower his guard in order to compensate…

Leaving the head open to an attack.

He doesn’t neglect hitting the body when he has an opponent hurt, either. In fact, Madrimov does a number of impressive things when he’s looking to finish; using touching shots to set up power punches, working an opponent up-and-down, manipulating an opponent’s head with extended forearms and creating openings with intelligent punch selection. He does have a tendency to chase combinations and leave his feet behind at times, but considering that he is still acclimating to the pros, Madrimov already looks like an experienced veteran in the ring. 

Conclusion

All things considered, describing Madrimov as a seasoned operator is something you can apply to nearly his entire game. There are—as you would expect of a 5 fight pro—things he can improve, but by & large Madrimov has a very mature skillset, combining a deep command of fundamentals with an instinctive understanding of space and movement in a way that allows him to build up much trickier skills. In conversation with him, he also showed both an understanding of his own game and a sharp interest in how he might improve it, something that will also stand him in good stead as he begins to step up to world level and title fights.

Some questions, of course, simply can’t be answered this early in Madrimov’s professional career - how does his game hold up on the back foot when effectively pressured? Does he have defensive depth when he doesn’t always necessarily win the positioning battle? And how does he look over the full 12 rounds? We’ll find out in due course, but if we were to speculate, he seemingly has the tools required to pass these tests with flying colours.

There is also the question of size: Madrimov has admitted himself that he isn’t particularly big for 154lbs, and will likely be undersized at 160lbs when he eventually moves up. Whilst this could very well be a roadblock to success for many fighters, Madrimov’s style isn’t reliant on physicality and his superior footwork will largely be able to overcome any disadvantages there. Besides, Madrimov isn't going to have to go division-hopping to prove his greatness: the abundance of promising talent coming through at junior-middleweight likely means that he’ll be able to craft a pound-for-pound-worthy résumé there anyway. Potential fights with the likes of Spence, Ennis, Charlo and Rosario as well as emerging prospects in Oganesyan, Baraou and Rabii provide plenty of opportunities for the Uzbek to cement his place amongst the sport’s elite.