Keith Thurman says Tim Tszyu is a “broken and distraught” fighter after his third-round knockout loss to IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev last Saturday night in Orlando. The loss leaves Tszyu’s career in shambles, given that it’s his second straight defeat, and it puts him out of title contention.
Thurman believes the 29-year-old Tszyu (24-2,17 KOs) will return to Australia and have two or three fights in front of his fans. He’ll work on his defense and look to increase his punch output before returning to the U.S. to fight top guys.
It’s going to be difficult for Tszyu to reinvent himself with a new style because he’s been fighting the same way his entire career, and he’s about to turn 30. He may not be able to change at the career stage.
“Broken, distraught,” said Keith Thurman to Thaboxingvoice when asked where Tim Tszyu’s loss to Bakhram Murtazaliev left him. “Maybe he fight in the U.S. again. Maybe he goes back to Australia. Maybe he has a few fights for the home crew, gets a few wins back under his belt, and builds some confidence.”
If Tszyu returns to Australia and mows down a few tomato cans, it’s not going to help him much. He’s got to face opposition, which is good enough for him to work on things. If he knocks them out like he’d been doing before fighting in the U.S., he’ll be wasting his time.
“Works on his defense and works on having a little more output. Like I said. Win one or two fights back at him, and then try and fight over here in the big swimming pool in the world of boxing. It’s tough when you’re trying to fight the best fighters in the world,” said Thurman.
Murtazaliev to Continue To Be Avoided
“It’s the IBF. So, he might fight some people that are ranked within the IBF,” said Thurman when asked where does Murtazaliev go from here. “His team is probably going to gun for a unification, and then it just matters on which champion wants to fight him.”
Obviously, Murtazaliev is going to be avoided by all of the top guys, and that includes Terence Crawford, the so-called best at 154. It doesn’t matter that Murtazaliev beat Tszyu. The top fighters won’t want to fight him.
“There are rumors of Fundora and Spence. So, he can’t really go after Fundora right now. They’re talking about [Jermell] coming back. So, that’s a potential fight [for Murtazaliev]. There’s good fights out there, but they weren’t fighting him before. They were avoiding him before,” said Thurman.
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