IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) says Tim Tszyu (24-2, 17 KOs) “didn’t expect” the left hook that initially hurt him in the second round, which made the shot double. powerful in his third round TKO victory over the former WBO champion on Saturday night at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida.
(Photo credit: Joseph Correa/Premier Boxing Champions)
Tszyu never knew what hit him with the first left hook in the second round, and it was all downhill from there. He would be the first to admit that he made mistakes in choosing to continue trading with Murtazaliev after the initial blow in the second.
In retrospect, Tszyu, 29, should have boxed after the first knockdown and stayed away from Murtazaliev because he was repeatedly caught with left hooks. Tszyu didn’t see those shots coming and was taken down three times in round 2. This time it was a nightmare for Tszyu.
Interestingly, Tszyu did not learn his lesson because he was still trading in the third round, and his trainer had told him before going out for the round to the box.
“That left hook was very powerful, and I didn’t expect it. When you don’t expect it, it’s double impact,” said Bakhram Murtazaliev, speaking to the media following his third round TKO win over Tim Tszyu on Saturday night in Orlando.
“I thought in the first round to feel his power and see how hard he hits. Many people say that they can see my shots, and they are sloppy, but he also hit like that. So, I could see everything, and I wanted to counter to him
“I’m only interested in unifying my title and fighting any champion there. I want to fight champions and then move up a division,” continued Murtazaliev. “We didn’t plan anything. If it ended in the first round, it would be over then. If it ended in the third round, I didn’t expect anything.
“I was ready to go all 12 rounds. Yeah, it wasn’t that hard because it ended so quickly and I didn’t get hit that much.
