Bakhram Murtazaliev-Tim Tszyu Fight Week Diary: Day Three

Saturday, October 19

Tim Tszyu and those around him had been sufficiently confident of victory over Bakhram Murtazaliev that he had planned to make his first defense of the IBF junior-middleweight title back home in Sydney between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve.

Even had he won it would have been difficult for him to so quickly be as ready as he ought to be for a world-title contest, but perhaps it is that desire and conviction that will prove his greatest strength in the coming months and years.

Post-fight, in one of the corridors of Orlando’s Caribe Royale, one of his team could be overheard saying that he had abandoned their game plan – one that demanded that he attempt to stay out of harm’s way for the opening four rounds. 

It is tempting to conclude that a perfect storm contributed to the 29 year old fighting as he did. He appears to believe he deserved victory in March against Sebastian Fundora, when a cut in his scalp severely affected his vision and performance. If he continued to consider himself an undefeated fighter, and at the highest level after so significant an injury, an air of invincibility was perhaps inevitable. Post-fight, when he was typically unwilling to offer excuses, he stressed how fit and strong he had felt, enhancing the unmistakable confidence with which he had fought. His father Kostya was also ringside at one of his fights for the first time in eight years – perhaps there also existed a degree of emotion that affected his focus, or a sense of responsibility to impress a retired fighter again recently described as Australia’s greatest of all. 

The Caribe Royale is considerably smaller, and more isolated, than any of the casinos in Las Vegas that would host a world-title fight – encounters with those involved in Saturday’s promotion therefore happened day and night. BoxingScene overheard Bakhram Murtazaliev’s respected manager Egis Klimas acknowledge the threat posed to his fighter by Tszyu, before adding with a smile: “But I like it when my guy’s the underdog.”

Kostya’s presence in Orlando meant that he was seeing Tim’s younger brother Nikita for the first time in 11 years, and by the time of the non-televised undercard fight between Justin Vitoria and Diuhl Olguin, they were sat ringside, chatting and watching the evening unfold.

Vitoria-Olguin was shortly before the first non-pay-per-view fight of Premier Boxing Champions’ broadcast agreement with Amazon Prime. “Enjoy and be part of our telecast”, the master of ceremonies Jimmy Lennon Jnr said shortly before the broadcast started, essentially encouraging everyone to remain in their seats, without explaining that if they did it would look better on screen. “Join us; be part of our broadcast; the world is watching,” he concluded. The middleweights Cesar Mateo Tapia and Endry Saavedra then proceeded to fight to the most entertaining of majority draws. 

After Murtazaliev’s clinical dismantling of Tszyu, the Australian climbed through the ropes, and, unsurprisingly given the way he had conducted himself, turned to the champion to congratulate him again and to share a moment with a fellow fighter.

He had planned to catch a 7.50am flight out of Orlando, but at his post-fight press conference appeared to be concussed. Shortly after midnight there existed no plans for him to go to hospital – he was instead under observation at his villa by his team.

Murtazaliev’s co-promoter, Kathy Duva of Main Events, approached BoxingScene, post-fight, to reference a previous conversation. “It’s payback for Judah,” she said with noticeable warmth, remembering, as she had on Thursday, Kostya Tszyu’s memorably devastating stoppage of her former fighter Zab Judah in 2001.

She also quoted her late husband Dan on how odds exist to be upset, adding: “It was a brutal loss – I saw the signs.” She proceeded to explain that above all else she had recognised the risk for Tszyu of entering a title fight after March’s taxing defeat by Fundora; like others she also mentioned him checking his head for a cut after an early head clash, and also said that when Tszyu was ready to fight Vergil Ortiz Jnr she was concerned that for those same reasons Ortiz would defeat him before Murtazaliev could.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” she continued. “He seems like the nicest kid in the world. He seems like such a nice young man. He should take a good long rest though. I’ve seen fighters come back from losses like that and have great careers.”

Hindsight, as ever, remains unrivalled, but post-fight it was difficult not to reflect on the quiet air of confidence of Klimas – who manages several of the world’s finest fighters – and Duva, and the experience that guides their sense of timing and matchmaking abilities, and how damaging their expertise had proved to Tzsyu.