By Keith Idec
Tim Tszyu wouldn’t have stepped apart as soon as, not to mention 4 occasions.
The previous WBO junior middleweight champion considers the circuitous route Bakhram Murtazaliev took to successful the IBF 154-pound crown six months in the past peculiar as a result of the unbeaten Russian waited greater than 4 years for his title shot. After successful an IBF elimination match in November 2019, Murtazaliev accepted step-aside charges 4 occasions and accompanying tune-up fights for purses that went effectively into seven figures mixed.
Murtazaliev’s cooperation enabled Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions to rearrange three straight 154-pound championship unification fights for Jermell Charlo, for whom Murtazaliev was the obligatory challenger. Tszyu took the other method when he petitioned the WBO to battle for its interim junior middleweight title after Charlo’s hand harm postponed and in the end canceled their battle, which was scheduled for January 2023 in Las Vegas.
“Yeah, he’s made a pair bucks,” Tszyu informed Boxing Information when requested about Murtazaliev, his opponent Saturday evening in Orlando, Florida. “Not the identical method that I’d do it. My perspective’s completely different. I wouldn’t take any step-aside cash. I discover it a bit unusual with fighters that financially, whereas it is smart to him … he’s milked it. Let’s simply say that.”
Houston’s Charlo (35-2-1, 19 KOs) gained the IBF belt from Jeison Rosario in September 2020, when Charlo knocked out the Dominican Republic’s Rosario within the eighth spherical of their title unification battle. Murtazaliev, who will make his first protection of the IBF belt versus Tszyu, defeated journeyman Manny Woods (then 16-9-1) by fourth-round technical knockout on the Charlo-Rosario undercard at Mohegan Solar Area in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Charlo later battled Brian Castano in two extra title unification clashes, earlier than he moved up two weight lessons and suffered a lopsided loss to Canelo Alvarez of their 12-round battle for Alvarez’s tremendous middleweight titles a yr in the past at T-Cellular Area in Las Vegas.
The IBF ultimately stripped Charlo and ordered a bout between Murtazaliev and Germany’s Jack Culcay for its unclaimed junior middleweight title. Murtazaliev knocked out Culcay within the 11th spherical of their April 6 bout in Berlin.
The IBF later ordered Murtazaliev to battle Erickson Lubin, its third-rated contender. Lubin turned down the bout as a result of he had a hand harm that might’ve prevented him from coaching.
The IBF then supplied this title shot to the fourth-ranked Tszyu, who fortunately accepted it within the aftermath of his bloody, split-decision defeat to Sebastian Fundora on March 30 at T-Cellular Area in Las Vegas. The bout between Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KOs), of Glendale, California, and Sydney’s Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) would be the major occasion of a three-bout stream on Prime Video that’s scheduled to begin at 1 a.m. GMT (8 p.m. ET) from Caribe Royale Orlando.
“I count on it to be like a dogfight,” mentioned Tszyu, who’s listed as a 7-1 favourite over Murtazaliev by most sportsbooks. “You hit him, he hits you again – like an action-packed sort battle. [He’s] somebody who doesn’t hand over. They’re exhausting to interrupt and that all the time presents an amazing process.”
