Tim Tszyu Aims To Fight IBF super-welterweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev

August 14, 2024
6 months
Tim Tszyu is close to agreeing a fight with Bakhram Murtazaliev

Tim Tszyu could be set for an immediate opportunity to become a world champion again after his promoter said they are targeting a fight with the IBF’s super-welterweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev.

Tszyu (24-1-0 17 KO) suffered the first defeat of his career this year when, in March at the T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, he lost a split decision to American Sebastian Fundora. The defeat saw the Australian lose his WBO world title while making Fundora a unified champion as the vacant WBC belt was also on the line.

It was a cruel outcome for Tszyu, who was badly cut in the second round after walking on to Fundora’s elbow, leaving a nasty wound and blood gushing from his head for the rest of the fight.

However, Tszyu appears to be lining up the chance to become a two-time champion with a showdown against IBF title holder Murtazaliev (22-0-0 16 KO).

“Right now, we’re going to fight for an IBF world title,” said George Rose, the chief executive of No Limit Boxing. “Terence Crawford doesn’t own that – that belongs to Bakhram Murtazaliev. So we’ll be fighting Bakhram and we’ll be winning that world title. Then we’ve got another piece of jewelery for Tim and we’ll be looking at what the next opportunities are for him.”

Tszyu was initially scheduled to fight Vergil Ortiz on the Riyadh Season card headlined by Terence Crawford v Israil Madrimov in Los Angeles earlier this month, but the Australian was forced to withdraw because his injuries from the Fundora fight had not fully healed in time.

Ortiz instead fought Serhii Bohachuk last Saturday in Las Vegas, securing a controversial split decision victory – despite getting knocked down twice – and becoming the WBC’s interim champion.

Should Tszyu fight Russian Murtazaliev and win his IBF title, it would put him in a great position to challenge Crawford, who is targeting unification fights as he aims to become the first male fighter to be an undisputed champion in three weight divisions.

The latest chapter of Crawford’s career is being closely supported by Turki Alalshikh, the Saudi Arabian powerbroker behind the Riyadh Season boxing shows. Naturally, Alalshikh is trying to engineer the biggest and best fights for Crawford, but Rose insists he is focused only on what’s best for his fighter.

“[Alalshikh is] pushing Terence Crawford’s case. Terence is his Riyadh Season ambassador and he wants what’s best for Terence Crawford,” Rose said. “Terence Crawford has now got belts – he’s a guy we would love to talk to in the future but right now we’re focused on Bakhram and we’re getting that fight done.

“We want to win that belt and Terence Crawford is also focused on what opportunities lie for him in this division. He’ll never be the king of the division if he doesn’t fight Tim Tszyu. Tim Tszyu is the king of the division.”

Murtazaliev won the vacant IBF world title in April with an 11th-round knockout of Jack Culcay in Germany.

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