He might not possess the most prominent name in the sport, but in boxing’s richest division, Bakhram Murtazaliev does own the highly lucrative commodity of a belt.
Murtazaliev, the new IBF 154-pound champion from Russia, intends to flex the value of his possession this next month as he seeks his richest purse yet against one of the many talented titleholders and contenders in the weight class.
Murtazaliev’s powerful manager, Egis Klimas, told BoxingScene he plans to bring the unbeaten (22-0, 16 KOs) fighter to the Aug. 3 Los Angeles card headlined by the WBA junior middleweight title bout between titleholder Israil Madrimov and unbeaten three-division champion Terence Crawford.
While the IBF typically obligates new champions to meet its mandatory opponent, the top two spots in the IBF rankings are vacant, with former title challenger Erickson Lubin at No. 3 and former belt holder Tim Tszyu at No. 4.
Murtazaliev, 31, who captured the vacant belt April 6 with an 11th-round knockout of Germany’s Jack Culcay in a hostile German venue, is now “looking for all opportunities.”
While Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) may be in line for a bout with fellow former pound-for-pound king Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, should Crawford defeat Uzbekistan’s Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) in just over two weeks, Murtazaliev provides the Aug. 3 winner a chance to unify titles.
Two-belt champion Sebastian Fundora appears headed to an October date against former three-belt welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. at AT&T Stadium outside Dallas.
Another attractive opponent, Klimas said, is Tszyu, who sustained a nasty head cut in his March 30 split decision loss to Fundora and couldn’t recover in time to meet unbeaten Vergil Ortiz Jr. (21-0, 21 KOs) on the Aug. 3 card.
Ortiz will instead fight WBC interim 154-pound champion Serhii Bohachuk Aug. 10 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
“We’re definitely not fighting Tszyu in [his native] Australia, but we would love to fight Tim Tszyu,” Klimas said. “The U.S. is the best place for that fight, or we would go to Saudi [Arabia].”
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