Bakhram Murtazaliev’s trainer Roma Kalantaryan doubts Terence Crawford will want to fight Bakhram as he pursues big money fights against the unified super middleweight champion.
Crawford will not fight Murtazaliev
Roma thinks Crawford didn’t want to face Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs). He feels it would be a fun fight for the fans, a big guy with power taking on a smaller, highly technical fighter.
If Crawford hadn’t had such a tough time in his debut at 154 against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on August 3, he would have enjoyed fighting Murtazaliev. But with the problems Crawford had against Madrimov, barely winning, he will never agree to fight him before he retires.
It should be known that 154 is not what he is suitable for, and, of course, neither is 168. Obviously, the goal of Crawford moving up to 168 is money, and it is not a big deal if he loses.
Fighting Murtazaliev would be difficult for Crawford, because he doesn’t have the power to fight someone like that without sustaining a lot of damage.
Murtazaliev’s Size and Power Advantage
“After a fight like this, I would like him to fight Terence Crawford, but I don’t see Crawford fighting him. This fight looked very good,” said trainer Roma Kalantaryan On The Ropes Podcast about a fight he would like for IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev.
“This fight is going to be like a big guy (Murtazaliev) fighting a really small guy (Crawford). A big, powerful boxer fighting a very slim technical guy, and it’s going to be a crazy fight. The way I see Terence Crawford. He’s after the big bucks now, and I don’t know if it’s going to happen. I hope it happens, but I don’t know,” Roma said.
Crawford looked very small in the ring with Murtazaliev, and he would still deliver a lot of punching power. It would be a very regulation fight for Crawford, 37, who doesn’t move as well as he used to and couldn’t beat Murtazaliev by striking and countering.
“On the other hand, you have Fundora and Spence. This fight could really happen because Fundora beat Tszyu by split decision. Spence is coming off a loss, and he hasn’t been active for a long time. So, I think the fight has a lot more sense because Crawford is fighting for Crawford. He’s chasing the big bucks. We all know what he’s chasing,” Roma said.
Fundora or Spence will only fight Murtazaliev if he is the best option available for a big payday. His Excellency Turki Alalshikh could choose to match the winner of the December 21 fight between Israil Madrimov vs. Serhii Bohachuk against the Spence-Fundora winner. Both of them have already fought on the events of the Riyadh Season of Turki.
“We’ll see. I hope we have one or the other, just give me enough time to prepare for this fight. We have enough time to prepare. We’ll be ready no matter who comes,” Roma said.
Spence or Fundora would be willing to fight Murtazaliev if they were paid enough by one of the promoters. PBC is not going to pay huge amounts of guaranteed money for a fight against Murtazaliev. It is necessary for His Excellency Turki Alalshikh to finance a fight involving Murtazaliev against one of them.
“We’ve had ten fights at 160 before in his career, and every one of them ended early,” said Rome, who Murtazaliev fought at middleweight earlier in his career. He removed every single one of them.”
Murtazaliev should be ready to move up to 160 if he can’t get a fight against Crawford and the winner of the Spence vs. Fundora fight. The last thing Murtazaliev needs is to stay stagnant at 154, be avoided like the plague, and be stuck making defenses against fighters the fans aren’t familiar with.
The Options at 160
Janibek Alimkhanuly
Erislandy Lara
Charles Adams
Hamzah Sheeraz
Chris Eubank Jr.
Most of those fighters would probably turn down a fight against Murtazaliev, but not all of them. Some agreed to fight with him.
