Murtazaliev Vs. Crawford: Fans Demand Matchup After Tszyu TKO

Bakhram Murtazaliev asked his followers today if they want him to face “The Monster” Terence Crawford next, and many answered in the affirmative. However, they doubt that Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) will want to fight the unbeaten Murataliev (23-0, 17 KOs) after what he did to former WBO 154-lb champion Tim Tszyu on October 19th.

Who Is The Monster?

Murtazaliev is the TRUE “Monster in the 154-lb division, not Crawford. There’s no question who the better fighter is between the two. Turki Alalshikh would be doing the world a real solid if he gave Crawford an offer that he can’t refuse to fight Murtazaliev.

Crawford would never agree to fight Murataliev without Turki insisting that he face him. If he doesn’t want to go up to 168 to prove himself against the killers in that weight class to earn the Canelo fight, then he should have to fight one or two times.

Turki’s Role

Murtazaliev is the one that Turki should be negotiating for Crawford to fight because the Nebraska native’s recent performance or lack thereof against former WBA 154-lb champion Israil Madrimov on August 3rd showed that he’s not capable of moving up two weight classes to fight Canelo at 168.

A better test would be to throw Crawford in with Murtazaliev and see how he does against the King of the division. The casuals think Crawford is the King of the 154-lb division. But he’s definitely not. Turki, just throw Crawford in there with Murataliev, like he’s hand-feeding a shark, and watch the frenzy.

Fans who can actually think of it believe that Terence has been given too much praise for his wins against shopworn Errol Spence and Shawn Porter. Those are Crawford’s best wins when taking Madrimov out of the equation.

Crawford’s Form

Terence’s last performance against Madrimov showed he’s just an average fighter in this weight class and will take losses when he gets in with Muratazaliev and other top fighters with talent. Madrimov would have beaten him if he had let his hands go. He showed Crawford too much respect and spent most of the contest feinting but not throwing.

The IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram dropped Tszyu (24-2, 17 KOs) four times before scoring a third-round technical knockout at the Caribe Royale Orlando, Orlando, Florida. Referee Chris Young waved it off at 1:55 after Tszyu’s corner threw in the towel.