Tim Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) has a tough fight ahead of him against IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KOs) this Saturday, October 19th at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida.
Tszyu hopes to become a two-time world champion at 154 after losing his WBO belt last March to Sebastian Fundora, but he may have picked the wrong belt to accomplish that. Murtazaliev is a big, powerful combination puncher and a potential nightmare for Tszyu.
Murtazaliev is not the ideal bounce-back type of opponent coming off a loss like the one Tszyu took, and this could backfire on him by choosing this guy as the first fight after a loss to Fundora. Saturday’s Tszyu vs. Murtazaliev fight will be shown on PBC Championship Boxing on Prime Video.
“Murtazaliev is a very good fighter. He’s got a good right hand. He’s fundamental. He’s physically strong; he’s big and tall for the weight class,” said Chris Algieri to Probox TV, talking about IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev, who defends against Tim Tszyu this Saturday night.
“This is not an easy fight for Tim Tszyu and not a walkover by any means. Just because the b boxing public hasn’t heard of him doesn’t mean the guy can’t fight. He’s one of those guys who has been under the radar. He’s been talking a lot of step aside money from a lot of these champions because he doesn’t have the profile.
“This guy has been in the background, winning in impressive fashion, especially via knockout. Jack Culcay is a tough out for anyone in the world. The fact that he [Murtazaliev] was able to stop him in Germany also speaks for his skillset, but also the belief his team has in him to go over to Germany to get that title, which he did. Now he’s coming back over here to fight Tim Tszyu, which I consider on neutral soil. He’s going to get a lot of fan exposure.
“This is a huge opportunity for Murtazaliev, but it’s certainly not a walkover bout whatsoever. Tim Tszyu had got his hands full because Murtazaliev can fight.
Tszyu has gotten so used to winning that he doesn’t understand that he’s not as good as he originally thought. We saw that in his last fight against Fundora. Tszyu was exposed in that fight and took a terrible beating by the 6’6” Fundora. Murtazaliev is a much bigger puncher than Fundora, and his combination punching ability is similar to Dmitry Bivol, but without the running element.
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