TV Picks of The Week: Bakhram Murtazaliev vs. Tim Tszyu for IBF junior middleweight tile

Pick It: Bakhram Murtazaliev vs. Tim Tszyu

When to Watch: Saturday, October 19 at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (1 a.m. BST)

How to watch: Amazon’s Prime Video

Why to Watch: The junior middleweight division is intriguing, full of talent, and continuing to take shape. The winner of this fight will be part of that picture. The loser may still have plenty of options available.

Just ask Tszyu, who did after he lost his WBO world title (and missed out on the vacant WBC belt) in March, when he suffered a horrifying cut from an accidental elbow and dropped a split decision to Sebastian Fundora.

Now, in his first fight back, Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) will challenge Murtazaliev for the IBF world title.

Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KOs) won that belt in early April, a week after Tszyu vs. Fundora, knocking out Jack Culcay in the 11th round.

That was an important win for Murtazaliev, a 31-year-old originally from Russia and now living in Oxnard, California. He is signed with Main Events and not aligned with a major network. Having that world title gave him the leverage to wind up with Tszyu in the main event at the Caribe Royale Orlando in Florida.

A win over Tszyu would open up even more doors for Murtazaliev. Tszyu wants those opportunities, too. Fundora has the WBC and WBO belts. Terence Crawford has the WBA title. And the division also includes the likes of Serhii Bohachuk and Israil Madrimov (who will fight each other in December), Charles Conwell, Vergil Ortiz and Errol Spence.

“Red hot names, some big matchups to be made,” Tszyu said recently. “When you think about it, let’s say in the near future there’s going to be so many crazy matchups to be made. It’s so exciting.”

This is a fight with big stakes. And it’s also expected to be entertaining.

“I’m bringing the heat,” Tszyu said. “Hopefully he doesn’t take a step back. Hopefully there’s not as much blood on my side this time. Hopefully there’s going to be some relentless action, and we bring the fans a fight to remember.”

“This is a badass fight,” Joe Rotonda, director of operations for Main Events, told me in a recent interview. “If you look at Tszyu’s last performance and Bakhram’s last performance, where he won the title, both these guys are willing to go to war, and they’re probably going to have to in this one.”

And on the undercard:

Yoenis Tellez vs. Johan Gonzalez: Tellez (8-0, 6 KOs) is a junior middleweight prospect originally from Cuba and now living in Texas. The 24-year-old has stepped up his level of opposition in his past three appearances, knocking out the 34-2 Sergio Garcia in three rounds on the undercard of Terence Crawford vs. Errol Spence, knocking out the 15-1 Livan Navarro in the 10th round on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Andre August, and outpointing the 19-0 Joseph Jackson in April.

Gonzalez (35-3, 34 KOs) is a 33-year-old originally from Venezuela and now living in Las Vegas. He’s gone 4-2 in his last six appearances, with a decision loss to Magomed Kurbanov in 2022 and a ninth-round TKO loss to Jesus Ramos in May. Gonzalez returned in August and made quick work of a 3-9 foe named Ivan Herrera.

Cesar Mateo Tapia vs. Endry Saavedra: Tapia (17-0, 10 KOs) is a 26-year-old middleweight prospect originally from Mexico and now living in Australia. He outpointed the 20-0 Keiber Gonzalez in April.

Saavedra (16-1, 13 KOs) is a 33-year-old originally from Venezuela and now living in Mexico.  He lost a decision in 2022 to the 10-0 Etoundi Michel William but has won three in a row since, including an eighth-round TKO in March of the 15-2 Isaac Hardman.

More Fights to Watch

Wednesday, October 16: Chris Colbert vs. Omar Salcido (ProBoxTV.com)

The broadcast begins at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (1 a.m. BST).

Colbert has dropped two of his last three and very well could have lost three in a row. Another defeat would be a significant setback. A victory, meanwhile, would at least put him back in the right direction.

Colbert, a 28-year-old from Brooklyn, was once on the better end of that continuum, putting together consecutive victories in 2020 and 2021 over Jezreel Corrales, Jaime Arboleda and Tugstsogt Nyambayar. But he lost a decision to Hector Garcia in February 2022 and soon departed junior lightweight for the 135-pound division. In March 2023, Colbert took on Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela. He was dropped in the first round but won unanimously, albeit by the closest of decisions, 95-94 on all three judges’ scorecards.

Their rematch came nine months later, as last year was coming to a close. Again, Valenzuela came at Colbert from the outset. And again, Valenzuela scored a first-round knockdown, with the referee ruling that the ropes held Colbert up. This time Valenzuela pulled ahead on the card and put Colbert away in the sixth.

His returns come against Salcido, a 24-year-old originally from Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, and now living outside of San Diego. Salcido is 19-1 (13 KOs). That loss came in October 2023, when he dropped a wide decision to unbeaten Jose Nunez. Salcido’s last appearance was in December, an eight-round unanimous decision over the 15-5 Luis Coria.

(Note: BoxingScene.com is owned by ProBox.) 

Thursday, October 17: Alexandre Gaumont vs. Cristian Zarate (ESPN+)

The broadcast begins at 6 p.m. Eastern Time (11 p.m. BST).

Gaumont is a 29-year-old middleweight prospect from Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, which means he’ll be performing in front of his hometown crowd at the Hotel-Casino du Lac-Leamy.

Gaumont (11-0, 7 KOs) fought twice in May. First he stopped the 17-11-2 Abdallah Luanja in two rounds, and then he took a split decision over the 8-0-1 Santiago Fernandez in a fight that boxing observer TimBoxeo called “a horrible hometown decision.” 

Zarate is a 33-year-old from Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a record of 10-4 (3 KOs).

The chief supporting bout features junior welterweight prospect Arthur Biyarslanov (16-0, 14 KOs) against Jonathan Eniz (35-20-1, 16 KOs).

Also on this show are two fighters returning from recent defeats:

Junior welterweight Steve Claggett (38-8-2, 26 KOs) is back from his June loss to Teofimo Lopez. He’ll take on Eduardo Estela (16-3, 11 KOs).

And light heavyweight Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse (7-2, 2 KOs) is back after her July drubbing at the hands of Claressa Shields. She’ll face Angelica Lopez Flores (14-2-1, 8 KOs).

Other prospects performing in separate bous include light heavyweight Mehmet Unal (10-0, 8 KOs), lightweight Luis Santana (12-0, 6 KOs) and middleweight Shamil Khataev (12-0-1, 3 KOs).

Friday, October 18: Joshua James Pagan vs. Haskell Rhodes (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 9 p.m. Eastern Time (2 a.m. BST).

Pagan is a lightweight prospect who turned pro in 2022 and is now 10-0 (4 KOs). The 24-year-old from Grand Rapids, Michigan, just went eight rounds for the first time, taking a unanimous decision over the 13-0 Roger Hilley in May. Now Pagan will be taking part in his first 10-rounder.

He was supposed to be facing another unbeaten fighter in this main event at the Coca-Cola Music Hall in San Juan, Puerto Rico. But when Trevor Thonson (13-0, 10 KOs) had travel issues, in stepped Rhodes, a 37-year-old from Las Vegas by way of Oklahoma City.

Rhodes is 31-6-1 (16 KOs), with those losses over the years coming against familiar names such as prospects Antonio Perez and Floyd Schofield (both by UD10 in 2023), former contenders Jason Sosa (TKO7 in 2019) and Edner Cherry (UD10 in 2016), and a young Sergey Lipinets (UD10 in 2015).

On the undercard, light heavyweight prospect Juan Carrillo (12-0, 9 KOs) will meet Lenin Castillo (25-5-1, 19 KOs).

Carrillo is coming off a third-round TKO of the 21-8-2 Quinton Rankin in March. 

Castillo’s four most recent losses have all come against familiar names: Marcus Browne (UD10 in 2018), Dmitry Bivol (UD12 in 2019), Callum Smith (a frightening TKO2 in 2021) and Albert Ramirez (UD10 in 2023). Castilllo returned this July with a six-round points win over the 2-1-1 Reynaldo Acevedo Carmona.

Friday, October 18: Sam Gilley vs. Jack McGann(TNT Sports 3)

The broadcast begins at 7 p.m. BST.

This was supposed to be a rematch between Gilley and Louis Greene of their fight from a year ago, when the junior middleweight Gilley defeated Greene by unanimous decision. Instead, Greene has pulled out with an injury and in steps McGann.

Gilley, a 30-year-old from London, is 17-1 (8 KOs). This is his first appearance since that first fight.

McGann was previously unbeaten before running into Greene in March and losing in just 89 seconds. The 31-year-old from Liverpool came back in June and stopped the 4-12 Lukasz Barabasz in three rounds. McGann is now 10-1-1 (7 KOs)

Saturday, October 19: Adam Azim vs. Ohara Davies (Peacock, Sky Sports)

The broadcast begins at 2 p.m. Eastern Time (7 p.m. BST).

This main event at the Copper Box Arena in London is a fight between friends, sure, but this is also a fight with futures on the line.

Azim is a rising junior welterweight prospect who needs to face more established names. Davies, meanwhile, has taken a few defeats — the most recent a tremendous setback — and needs to prove that he can still succeed against quality opposition.

Azim (11-0, 8 KOs) is a 22-year-old from Slough, England. In February, Azim defeated the 14-0 Enock Poulsen when Poulsen suffered an injured shoulder and took the 10 count.

Davies (25-3, 18 KOs) is a 32-year-old from London. He turned pro in 2014 and was on the rise in 2017 when he ran into Josh Taylor, who stopped Davies in the seventh round. In 2018, Davies suffered another loss, this one via unanimous decision against Jack Catterall. Seven victories followed. But in January, Davies was downed twice and put away in less than two minutes by Ismael Barroso.

Saturday, October 19: William Scull vs. vs. Vladimir Shishkin (TBD)

This fight, for the vacant IBF super middleweight title that formerly belonged to Canelo Alvarez, did not have a broadcaster announced in the United States as this article went to press.

Scull is a 32-year-old originally from Cuba and now living in Berlin. He’ll be performing outside of the city at the Stadthalle in Falkensee. In May, Scull won a decision over the 16-1 Sean Hemphill to move to 22-0 (9 KOs). 

Shishkin is a 33-year-old originally from Russia and now living in Florida. In his last appearance, he took out the 12-7-1 Mike Guy in seven rounds.

Each fighter also has a recognizable name on their records from 2022. Scull won a decision over Evgeny Shvedenko, while Shishkin outpointed Jose Uzcategui.

Saturday, October 19: Bohdan Sobol vs. Lucas Brian Ariel Bastida (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at noon Eastern Time (5 p.m. BST).

Sobol is an unbeaten middleweight prospect originally from Ukraine and now fighting out of Riga, Latvia. This fight will headline at the Arena Riga.

The 25-year-old Sohol is 18-0 (8 KOs). In April, he scored a third-round TKO of the 27-10 Juan Ruiz.

Bastida is a 27-year-old from Mar Del Plata, Argentina. He is 21-3-1 (12 KOs), with his recent losses coming against Josh Kelly (UD10 in 2022) and the 10-0 Bakary Samake (UD10 in 2023). Bastida has since outpointed the 9-3 Diego Fabian Martinez and scored a TKO 8 over the 16-1 Nahuel Gonzalo Garcia.

Saturday, October 19: Zaur Abdullaev vs. Juan Javier Carrasco (TyC Sports)

The broadcast begins at 6 p.m. Eastern Time (11 p.m. BST).

Abdullaev is a lightweight contender who is 19-1 (11 KOs). The 30-year-old is originally from Russia and now living in Armenia. He has won eight straight since his 2019 loss to Devin Haney via fourth-round TKO. In February, Abdullaev outpointed Roger Gutierrez.

Carrasco is a 32-year-old from Mendoza, Argentina, which means he’ll be performing in front of his hometown crowd at the Estadio Cubierto Aconcagua Arena. He is 20-1 (12 KOs). That loss came in his sixth pro fight. In his last appearance, Carrasco knocked out the 15-2 Fletcher Silva in two rounds last November.

Saturday, October 19: Eric Hernandez vs. Dewayne Zeigler (ProBoxTV.com)

The broadcast begins at 7 p.m. Eastern Time (midnight BST).

Hernandez is a 30-year-old lightweight/junior welterweight from Ashburn, Virginia. He is 11-1 (5 KOs), with that loss coming in 2017 against the 7-1 Maynard Allison. Hernandez then spent more than six years out of the ring and returned with a pair of four-round decisions against opponents with records of 2-2 and 7-18.

Zeigler is a 32-year-old from Montgomery, Alabama, with a record of 11-1-1 (5 KOs). He’s returning to the ring after 25 months away, dating back to a September 2022 decision loss to the 9-0 Miy Sean Mason.

This fight will take place at Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington, Maryland.

(Note: BoxingScene.com is owned by ProBox.)

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2 and @UnitedBoxingPod. He is the co-host of the United Boxing Podcast. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.