Tim Tszyu feels that the ideal way for him to defeat IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KOs) is to KO him in the first 30 seconds of their fight this Saturday, October 19th, at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida. The former WBO 154-lb champion Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) wants the match to end as quickly as possible to show that he’s back after his loss to Sebastian Fundora on March 30th.
(Credit: Joseph Correa/Premier Boxing Champions)
“Right now, it would probably be [Jermell] Charlo, Errol Spence, and Crawford,” said Tim Tszyu to Fight Hub TV about who he would like to fight in 2025 if he had the choice. “I’m just preparing for the best version of myself and staying present in every single second of the fight,” said Tszyu, describing what he’s preparing for in his fight against Bakhram Murtazaliev on Saturday.
It’s questionable whether Tszyu will get any of the three fighters on his wishlist for 2025, especially Crawford and Charlo. Those two are out of reach for him. If Crawford gets ambitious and wants to go for the undisputed championship, he’ll fight Tszyu at some point if he can capture the IBF title from Murtazaliev.
“I haven’t thought much about him at all, in all honesty. I know he’s tough and dangerous and stuff like that. It’s me who’s in the ring. Exactly,” said Tszyu when asked if it’s more about what he does and less about what his opponent, Murtazaliev, is doing in the fight.
“Maybe in one given time in the fight against Fundora, I lost a bit of concentration. Emotions played a part and distractions. It made me lose a couple of rounds, which cost me the fight. It was a split decision by only one point. When you calculate it all out, every round matters and every second matters.
“Yeah, I’d say it was part of the cut, especially in the early rounds in the mid-rounds,” said Tszyu about why he lost concentration during his fight against Fundora. “For me, it was a lesson learned. No matter what circumstances you’re given, there are no excuses no matter what. That’s how I approach it now.”
Talking about the cut now as the reason for his defeat makes Tszyu sound like he’s making excuses to the fans. It would have been better for Tszyu to admit that Fundora’s height was the real problem because he had a lot of trouble with the fighter’s length and height. Fundora was stabbing Tszyu with jabs all night and making him pay for the shots he landed.
“No, I still had the belief that was comfortable with him at a certain time,” said Tszyu when asked if there was ever a time during the Fundora fight where there was a discussion about possibly stopping the contest due to his bad cut. “So, I felt like I could turn the tide around and land my shots, the ones that I was landing in the previous [rounds].”
Tszyu was looking for a one-punch knockout of Fundora, trying to mimic what Brian Mendoza had done to him, but that wasn’t going to happen. He couldn’t catch him with the perfect shot to hurt him the way Mendoza did. That was the difference. Tszyu’s wildness created a lot of openings for Fundora to land his jabs, left hooks, and right hands, which made his face look even more bloody.
“I saw that he was hurt in the early rounds. So, I felt like I could have got the job done. From the highlights, I thought he looked pretty good,” said Tszyu about Murtazaliev’s fight against Jack Culcay. “No, I didn’t watch. I don’t really watch fights. I really don’t watch my fights, in all honesty,” said Tszyu when asked if he wanted a replay of his match against Fundora from March 30th.
Fundora looked like he was there to be knocked out in the first two rounds against Tszyu before the cut occurred. Once the cut opened in round two, Tszyu’s face was pooled with blood, and he couldn’t see anything. He was swinging wildly, missing and getting countered by the 6’6″ Fundora. The fight should have been stopped when it was clear that Tszyu’s cut man wasn’t able to stop the bleeding.
“30 seconds, but I’m not looking for the knockout,” said Tszyu about what the perfect fight would be for him against Murtazaliev on Saturday night. “I’m just looking to show the dog in me, and I’m ready to have that feeling back.”
Tszyu will have to put himself at risk of getting clipped by the 6’0″ Murtazaliev, who is tall and can punch with either hand. He puts his shots together and isn’t afraid to get hit. This is not the ideal comeback opponent for Tszyu to be fighting, coming off a punishing 12-round split decision defeat against Sebastian Fundora. If things don’t go right for Tszyu in this fight, he can blame himself for choosing such a tough opponent instead of a confidence-booster-level fighter.
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