Bakhram Murtazaliev’s first junior middleweight world title defense against Tim Tszyu is both a step up — and a potential stepping stone.
Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KOs) has wanted Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) since before the 31-year-old won the vacant IBF belt in early April, when he knocked out Jack Culcay. Murtazaliev’s promoter, Kathy Duva of Main Events, is pleased that the fight is now coming to fruition.
“I think this is a very winnable for him. It’s a tough fight. I don’t think it’s an easy fight by any means. But it is winnable,” Duva told BoxingScene. “Bakhram is so motivated, like he was with Culcay. He had a plan. He knew what he was going to do, and he did it. I think he’s going to approach this fight the same way.”
Murtazaliev vs. Tszyu is scheduled to take place on October 19. According to boxing writer Dan Rafael, the bout will be held at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida, and will be broadcast on Amazon’s Prime Video. Duva said she had not yet received confirmation on the venue.
Duva pointed to the height advantage the 6-foot Murtazaliev will have over Tszyu, who is billed at 5-foot-9, and how Tszyu may take a similar approach to what Culcay, who is listed at 5-foot-7, tried.
“I’ve watched Tszyu fight a few times. Bakhram had been on at least one of his undercards [in March 2022, when Tszyu defeated Terrell Gausha]. I’m not taking anything away from him. He’s very, very talented. But I think he tends to absorb punches that he doesn’t need to,” Duva said. “He tends to walk forward. That’s what Culcay was doing. I think Bakhram has a plan to beat him.
“I was sitting there at ringside [for the Culcay fight], just astounded,” Duva added. “Bakhram went to Germany with the mindset that, ‘I have to get a knockout to win.’ As it turns out, he was ahead on points [on two of the three judges’ scorecards] when the knockout occurred. I just saw a guy go back round after round, so determined and so focused on doing whatever he had to do to win. It made the fight unbelievably exciting, particularly as we got to the later rounds. It’s such a similar situation. Culcay is a smaller guy, Bakhram wore him down. Culcay came in with the same mindset Tszyu’s going to have, believing he’s the better fighter and convinced he’s going to win. Bakhram just made it so clear that he isn’t going to let that happen.”
This will be Tszyu’s first fight back since losing his world title to Sebastian Fundora in late March, a week before Murtazaliev-Culcay took place. The 29-year-old suffered a horrific cut above his hairline from an accidental elbow. He had hoped to face Vergil Ortiz this summer, but the wound hadn’t healed enough.
For both men, a win will propel them forward in the very deep 154-pound weight class. And whoever loses will still have options as well.
“He’s in probably one of the most, if not the most, competitive divisions in the sport right now,” Duva said. “[A win] would catapult Bakhram to the very top, in consideration for fights like Terence Crawford.”
A unification match with Crawford, who edged Israil Madrimov on August 3 for the WBA title, is what Murtazaliev wants.
“That’s the biggest money fight. and the chance to go after a big icon,” Duva said “I would be disappointed if that isn’t what he wanted. Is it realistic? I don’t know, but there are so many potential opponents that there won’t be any problem making the next fight.”
The division includes Serhii Bohachuk, Charles Conwell, Crawford, Fundora, Madrimov, Murtazaliev, Ortiz, Errol Spence and Tszyu.
“It’s one of those moments where everybody’s up there on that level. Any fight among them would be exciting and fun, and hopefully a loss would not necessarily damage the career of the guys in the fight,” Duva said. “Just like Bohachuk and Ortiz — Bohachuk [who lost a decision to Ortiz earlier this month] is still an exciting, fun player in the division. I’d rather have my guys in fights like that, where they’re evenly matched, than in a division where they’re expected to win all the time because they’re so much better than everybody else. I’m much more excited to be at the fights where it’s a good, tough fight, but we think we have a good chance.”
Ortiz vs. Bohachuk is one of the leading candidates for Fight of the Year.
“We shouldn’t close the voting on that until this fight happens,” Duva said. “This has the potential for fireworks. Tszyu’s style and Bakhram’s style, it’s going to be another fight where they’re just going to go after each other. I don’t think they know any other way to do it.”
Follow David Greisman on Twitter @FightingWords2. His book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
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