Trainer Greg Hackett sees Terence Crawford knocking out IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev and knocking him out in the ninth round if the two fight in a unification.
Hackett points out that Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) is no Tim Tszyu, and it wouldn’t be the same situation for Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) as it was against him on Saturday night in his third. KO round win in Orlando, Florida.
Murtazaliev with too many advantages
Crawford has more experience, but Murtazaliev has too many advantages for the former Omaha, Nebraska native to take on this killer. Here’s what Crawford would be up against if he chose to face Murtazaliev:
– Cut down
– Youth
– The power
– Add
Crawford is a part-time fighter for the last four years through 2020, and he couldn’t get in the ring with a devastating puncher like Murtazaliev without something bad happening to him. We saw Crawford get hit a lot in his last fight by Israil Madrimov, and he was lucky he was facing a guy who didn’t throw a lot of punches.
If Crawford fights Murtazaliev, he will be hit a lot more by shots just as hard as the ones that knocked out Tim Tszyu.
The 37-year-old Crawford has made no mention of wanting to fight Murtazaliev, and he chose the arguably less dangerous WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov in his recent debut at 154 on August 3. Some believe Crawford strategically chose 11-fight newcomer Madrimov instead of taking on the more dangerous threat, Murtazaliev.
“It would be a great fight for Terence Crawford. He’s at that level. Bakhram, everyone’s talking about him now because of what he did to Tim Tszyu, but that’s what happens in boxing when you fight,” said coach Greg Hackett. Fighthype when asked about a unification fight between WBA 154-lb champion Terence Crawford and IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev.
“Of course, we don’t know much about him, but from what I see, he has an up-and-down style. He has a great jab, a right hand and a hook, and all you need in boxing is the good ones bases,” Hackett continued about Murtazaliev. “If you have good foundations, you can make things happen. Of course, Terence Crawford is not Tim Tszyu.”
Crawford’s lack of power
Crawford doesn’t possess the punching power that Tszyu brought to the table in his fight against Bakhram Murtazaliev, and he didn’t want to mess with the tall 6’0″ IBF champion after what he saw. done to Tim.
“Terence Crawford comes with a lot more elements than Tim Tszyu. So, I think he would give Bakhram a world of problems just behind his jab alone. It took him a while to take him down, punch him to the body. He’s going to work it until in the ninth round and then took him out. Bakhram got caught with some shots he felt, but he stayed determined and stayed in the mission. I don’t think Bakhram could beat Terence Crawford.”
There is little chance that Crawford will take down Murtazaliev because he would need to get off his bike and stay in the pocket, and trade shots. He won’t do that. We saw how Crawford fought the potty fight Madrimov, and that was basically all rubbish.
Crawford played it safe, not taking any chances, but still eating countless right hands all night. His face was badly scarred at the end of the fight, and he looked like the loser of the contest, which was razor close. Crawford just won, winning by scores of 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113. Murtazaliev is a combination puncher with devastating power, and he didn’t occasionally throw a right hand at Crawford like Madrimov.
Crawford would never have agreed to fight Murtazaliev after seeing what he did to Tszyu. He’s still hoping the Saudis get him lined up for a retirement pay-per-view fight against Canelo Alvarez, who doesn’t rate since he’s never fought at 168 or even 160. He’s not going to get in the ring with Murtazaliev and have him. ruin their chances for a golden parachute sent.
