Bakhram Murtazaliev had the world title going into his fight Saturday night with Tim Tszyu, but it was Tszyu who had the bigger name and better track record.
Now Murtazaliev has made a name for himself — at Tszyu’s expense.
Murtazaliev wasn’t as well-known as his fellow junior middleweights before defending his IBF belt against Tszyu at the Caribe Royale Orlando. Now he’ll be remembered for sending Tszyu to the canvas four times in three rounds en route to a stellar technical knockout victory.
And Murtazaliev will be must-see whenever, and against whomever, he returns.
“I think he became somewhat of a star overnight,” said Joe Rotonda, director of operations for Main Events, which promotes Murtazaliev. Rotonda spoke with BoxingScene.com on Monday. “It’s incredible. I’m happy for him. The kid waited a long time. [Jermell] Charlo didn’t want to fight him for however many years. He just spent that time getting better.”
The performance reminded Rotonda of when another Main Events fighter, Sergey Kovalev, traveled to Wales and took out the previously unbeaten Nathan Cleverly in four rounds in 2013 to win his first light heavyweight world title.
Murtazaliev vs. Tszyu was the main event of the first Premier Boxing Champions non-pay-per-view broadcast on Amazon’s Prime Video.
“Other than UFC Fight Night, there was no competition as far as combat sports,” Rotonda said. “If you were a diehard or maybe a casual fan, you were probably home watching that fight and you watched Bakhram take over the world right there. I think everyone tuned in, and I think everyone said, ‘Holy shit, there’s a new sheriff in town at 154.’”
There are a lot of gunslingers in this town, however. That means plenty of potential opportunities, whether it’s unification bouts with Terence Crawford or Sebastian Fundora, or contenders such as Serhii Bohachuk, Charles Conwell, Erickson Lubin, Israel Madrimov, Vergil Ortiz Jr., and Errol Spence.
Rotonda said Main Events head Kathy Duva will work with Murtazaliev’s team on the path forward, and that the path may depend on what happens in upcoming fights among the other top junior middleweights.
“The division is hot,” Rotonda said. “There’s no easy roads moving forward, but it’s all fun, big fights no matter who you line up against.”
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2 and @UnitedBoxingPod. He is the co-host of the United Boxing Podcast. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
Read the full article here
