Junior middleweight Tim Tszyu is ready to take out anyone that may stand in his way of becoming a two-time world champion. The Australian must dig deep to strip Bakhram Murtazaliev off his IBF 154-pound title to achieve that.
Tszyu, who lost his WBO belt to Sebastian Fundora six months ago, faces another test against Russia’s Murtazaliev in a 12-round main event of PBC on Prime Video action Saturday, Oct.19 at Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida.
Ahead of the fight, Tszyu, 29, is confident of proving a point against Murtazaliev in spectacular fashion.
“At this level, you have to take everyone out and Bakhram is the next guy standing in my way,” said Tszyu. “The world knows me, and they know what I’m about. I’m thankful to my team for putting me in this position to prove why I’m still the man at 154 pounds.
“Bakhram has what I want, and I plan on taking it from him in spectacular fashion. It’s time to become a two-time world champion.”
Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) took an incidental elbow from Sebastian Fundora in round three that opened up a deep cut on his way to losing a narrow split-decision on March 30. The son of International Boxing Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu came into that fight off a red-hot 2023 campaign that saw him elevated to world champion status at 154 – while defeating former world champion Tony Harrison, Brian Mendoza and former title challenger Carlos Ocampo.
A native of Sydney, Australia, Tszyu made his US debut against US Olympian Terrell Gausha in March 2022, earning a unanimous decision. On Oct.19, Tszyu comes up against Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KOs) – who is looking forward to a maiden title defense.
Now residing in Oxnard, California, Murtazaliev defeated Jack Culcay on his home turf of Germany in April to win the IBF title with a dramatic 11th-round stoppage. The 31-year-old has fought professionally since 2014 and debuted stateside in November 2016 with a knockout over the previously unbeaten Botirsher Obidov.
Murtazaliev continued his climb with an impressive three-win 2019 campaign that culminated in a unanimous decision over Jorge Fortea in November that earned him the mandatory slot with the IBF. He’d go on to add four more victories between September 2020 and December 2022 before stepping into the title showdown against Culcay.
“I’m extremely happy and excited to defend my world title on Prime Video against a strong opponent like Tim Tszyu,” said Murtazaliev. “I just want Tim to be in the best shape possible and not get any injuries so we can give this fight to the fans.”
Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at [email protected].
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