IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) looked like a monster on Saturday night, dropped former WBO champ Tim Tszyu (24-2, 17 KOs) four times en route to knocking him out in the third round at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida. With Tszyu badly hurt and in distress, his corner threw in the towel in the third round to save their fighter. The fight was halted officially at 1:55 Mark.
Murtazaliev caught Tszyu with a huge left hook to the head in the second round to put him on the canvas. Rather than choosing to box to recover, Tszyu immediately went on the attack when he got back up and got nailed by another left Hook from Murtzaliev that putting him down for the second time.
In the final seconds of round two, Murtazaliev dropped Tszyu once again. Tszyu was in bad shape when he got back to his feet. The round at that point, otherwise Tszyu would have been put down again.
At the start of the third, the referee had Tszyu checked out by the ringside doctor to see if he could still fight. The crowd booed the delay of the round.
Tszyu ignored his corner’s advice and went after Murtzaliev, took big shots, and dropped within another left Hook to the head. That fourth Knockdown of the fight. Tszyu showed his warrior spirit by getting up and continuing. Murtaliev went for the kill, landing a couple of heavy shots against a staggering, out-his-feet Tszyu. At that point, Tszyu’s corner threw in the towel to have the fight stopped.
“The better man won tonight. No excuses. I tried my best. Boxing is not meant to be perfect,” said Tszyu after the fight. “I think it was after the first shot. Things didn’t go according to plan. He’s the man at 154. He’s the champ.”
This loss is Tszyu’s second consecutive and puts his career on skidrow, and it’s going to be very hard for him to come back from this defeat.
Last Updated on 10/19/2024
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