Bakhram Murtazaliev has now recovered from the hand injury that sidelined the IBF junior middleweight titleholder for a bit after the biggest win of his career.
Murtazaliev hurt his right hand in sparring shortly before his October 2024 fight with Tim Tszyu but went forward with the bout anyway. The injury didn’t prevent Murtazaliev from scoring a sensational victory, knocking Tszyu down four times en route to a third-round technical knockout.
“Bakhram is in the gym testing out his hand now and, so far, so good,” Kathy Duva of Main Events, which promotes Murtazaliev, told BoxingScene. “We can begin to start making arrangements for his next fight. But I doubt there will be anything to announce before March.”
Murtazaliev, 23-0 (17 KOs), won the IBF belt last April with an 11th-round knockout of Jack Culcay. The defense against Tszyu was the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions show. Afterward, Duva told BoxingScene that Murtazaliev’s path forward would depend on what happened in the packed 154lb division in the months to come.
Serhii Bohachuk’s fight with Israil Madrimov, originally scheduled for December, was canceled; Bohachuk instead dispatched late replacement Ishmael Davis. Madrimov will face Vergil Ortiz Jnr on February 22. Terence Crawford, who holds the WBA title, might not return to the ring until a proposed September fight with super middleweight champion Terence Crawford. And unified WBC/WBO titleholder Sebastian Fundora is expected to take on Chordale Booker on March 22 now that a planned fight with Errol Spence fell apart.
Also, the IBF has ordered a fight between Erickson Lubin and Ardreal Holmes Jnr, with the winner becoming Murtazaliev’s new No. 1 contender.
“We are looking to unify and/or fight the most competitive and lucrative opponents we can find,” Duva said. “Too soon to say exactly who it will be.”
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