Tim Tszyu struggled to remember what had happened in the ring with Bakhram Murtazaliev at the conclusion of what could prove the most damaging night of his career.
The Australian was dropped four times by the IBF junior-middleweight champion at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida, before his uncle and trainer Igor Goloubevk was forced to rescue him in the third round.
Tszyu, 29, had been the favourite to dethrone the Russian on the occasion of the first defence of his title. His celebrated father Kostya was ringside for one of his fights for the first time since his professional debut in 2016.
Instead of putting March’s split-decision defeat by Sebastian Fundora behind him, however, he left the ring more scarred than he had entered it. After so one-sided a defeat there is little question that his confidence and career will have to be rebuilt.
Tszyu, repeatedly and in many respects admirably, was brave to the point of recklessness from the opening bell.
He willingly traded with the heavy handed Murtazaliev after each of the four knockdowns, and until the towel was thrown in by Goloubevk showed considerable heart to not only fight on but to so aggressively fight back.
“I can’t recall,” Tszyu responded when first asked about the fight.
“I can’t recall – I honestly can’t recall,” he then said when asked another question, appearing, perhaps unsurprisingly, concussed.
“What the fuck just happened?” he calmly responded when asked what was going through his mind. “What did I get hit with? I need to regroup, and, I dunno, man. Shit doesn’t go your way and you just have to bounce back, you know?
“I was positive after Fundora, but this didn’t go according to script. It was a little bit different.
“I felt unbelievable [pre-fight], to be honest with you. I had great prep. So, he got me, man, and he was the better man on this night, and we live and we learn.”
It was the 31-year-old Murtazaliev’s left hook that repeatedly hurt Tszyu, who had hoped to win the title and then defend it in Australia in December.
“Every time I step into the ring I leave it all in there,” he had said in the ring, before returning to the dressing room. “Things didn’t go to plan and the better man won tonight. No excuses.
“After the first shot, things started not going according to plan. That’s part of boxing, you get hit and reactions get slower. Bakhram is the man at 154.”
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