IBF World Super Welterweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev defended for the first time, scoring four stops, stopping former WBO World Super Welterweight champion ‘The Soul Taker’ Tim Tszyu in the third round in a 12-round fight scheduled for Saturday night at the Caribe Royale Resort. in Orlando, Florida.
Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) stopped former WBO World Junior middleweight champion Tszyu (24-2, 17 KOs) at 1:55 of the third round after scoring four 12-round knockdowns.
In the first round, Murtazaliev controlled with his jab, with Tszyu suffering a small cut on the top of his head from a clash of heads. In the second round, Murtazaliev scored the first takedown after a minute left on the chin for an 8 count by referee Christopher Young.
Midway through the round, a right to the chin dropped him a second time for an 8-count. In the last minute, a right dropped Tszyu a third time seconds before the end of the round for an 8-count.
In the third round, a left hook from Murtazaliev dropped Tszyu for the fourth time for an 8 count from referee Young. Seconds later, Murtazaliev had Tszyu out on his feet, landing a right to the head as the towel came to stop the fight.
Super Welterweight Yoenis Tellez (9-0, 7 KOs) stopped Johan ‘The Chelo Manotas’ Gonzalez (35-4, 34 KOs) at 1:57 of the seventh round of a scheduled ten round bout.
In the first round, Gonzalez used an effective jab to knock out Tellez. In the second round, Tellez turned from the south to the orthodox, but it does not matter; Gonzalez took another turn.
In the third round, Tellez switched to the southpaw while Gonzalez scored well in a tight round. In the fourth round, Tellez finally started to put his punches together, overpowering Gonzalez. In the fifth round, it was all Tellez until the final seconds, when Gonzalez closed in with too little, too late.
In the sixth round, the last seconds, a right from Tellez on the chin dropped Gonzalez for a count of 8 by referee Camile Lomardi. In the seventh round, a left hook from Tellez on the chin dropped Gonzalez for an 8-count. Seconds later, a right left Gonzalez again, prompting referee Lombardi to call a stoppage.
Cesar ‘El Tijuanero’ Mateo Tapia (17-0-1, 10 KOs) finished in a majority draw with Endry ‘El Chino’ Saavedra (16-1-1, 13 KOs) over ten rounds for the vacant IBF Int The Middle Title.
In the second round, a clash of heads caused a cut under Tapia’s right eye. In the third round, Saavedra defeated Tapia twice. In the fourth round, Tapia came back to hold his own until 30 seconds had passed. Saavedra landed a right to the chin, hitting Tapia.
In the fifth round, Saavedra’s body shots had Tapia holding. With 10 seconds remaining, Tapia landed a pair of rights to the chin and dropped Saavedra for an 8 count as the bell rang. In the final minute of the sixth round, Tapia had Saavedra holding on to the bell, his right eye closed.
In the seventh round, Tapia came to fight, with Saavedra all over him. In the eighth round, both had their moments for the first half of the shift when Saavedra took over.
In the ninth round at the halfway point, a combination from Saavedra drove Tapia into the ropes and down for an 8-count. Tapia’s right eye was closed. In the tenth and final round, Tapia had Saavedra rock several times with rights to the chin.
Scores 94-92 Tapia, 93-93 and 98-93.
Heavyweight Dainier Pero (9-0, 7 KOs) stopped southpaw Willie ‘Snake’ Jake, Jr. (11-5-2, 3 KOs) in the third round of a scheduled 8 round fight.
Super Feather Justin Viloria (7-0, 5 KOs) stopped Diuhl ‘Elegante’ Olguin (16-41-7, 10 KOs) in the seventh round of an 8.
Super Bantam southpaw Gary Antonio Russell (20-1, 13 KOs) defeated Jaden ‘Oveja Negra’ Burnias (6-3-2, 4 KOs) in the fourth round of a six-round fight.
