Tim Tszyu believes his opponent, IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev, could be overwhelmed by the moment he is in the spotlight for the first time in their fight this Saturday, October 19 at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando , Florida. Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) is trying to make Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KOs) question himself for not being at his best on Saturday because he doesn’t need him to.
(Credit: Joseph Correa/Premier Boxing Champions)
Tszyu lost his last fight against Sebastian Fundora on March 30, and he enters this match with a lot of doubt over his career. He’s in a must-win situation against Murtazaliev because if he loses this one, those money fights he dreamed of getting could be gone forever.
“I think he’s not used to this spotlight,” Tim Tszyu said Jai McAllisterabout his belief that Bakhram Murtazaliev has never been in a pressure situation like this. “I feel like a lion. A lion goes through many battles in his life, and no matter what, they come.
“If it pays, why not, and we have unfinished business?” said Tszyu when asked if he would be interested in fighting the former inactive WBA and WBC welterweight champion. Keith Thurmanwho hasn’t hit in nearly three years, and turns 36 on November 23rd.
Thurman will have been inactive for three years in February, and whatever popularity he had several years ago has waned. He’s only fought four times in the last seven years since 2017. While some of that is injury-related, most of it has to do with just a lack of ambition to keep his career going. It would be risky for Tszyu to agree to a fight against Thurman because he could not go through training camp without suffering an injury related to his age and physical decline.
“Xander? I didn’t have my eyes on him. I’m chasing the big dogs right now,” Tszyu said when told that the undefeated no. 3 WBC Xander Zayas said he wanted to fight.
The Top Rank-promoted Zayas looked poor in his recent fight against Damian Sosa on September 28th. Zayas isn’t well-known enough among fans and doesn’t have the punching power to make a fight between him and Tszyu worth watching for fans. Top Rank will need to figure out what they’re going to do with him because he and a couple of their other notable guys aren’t going anywhere.
“Catch him when he’s unexpected,” said Tszyu on what his prediction is for his fight against Murtazaliev on Saturday night. “I think he realized a long time ago. I think he dreamed about this fight and thought about it. I think he overthought it. In all honesty, I didn’t think much about the fight. When it comes to fighting at night, I know when it goes down. I have other things.”
Tszyu constantly denying that he has thought about his fight against Murtazaliev is a sign that if he admits that he has thought about the matchup, it would be perceived as weakness on his part. So try to project strength by acting nonchalantly on the fight, as it’s just an easy walk in the park.
“This fight is super important for both guys. If Murtazaliev wins this fight, I think he goes to a high level. He takes a big leap to fight the top dogs,” said Shawn Porter to Jai McAllister on Saturday’s fight between IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev and Tim Tszyu.
If Murtazaliev looks like gold 24k beats Tszyu, he still can not get “the top dogs” in the 154-lb division to fight him because it would be a situation of him being high risk, low reward. That’s why Murtazaliev has been invisible throughout his 10-year professional career. He was too dangerous for his own good and not promoted by one of the main American or British promoters who could get him to fight.
“For Tim, it is to regain where he was before. He was the first three. Now he goes to the top one or two in the division (if he is victorious against Murtazaliev). He has the loss of Fundora, so we have to take into account and show respect for that,” Porter said.
Shawn won’t say who his top three are at 154, but it sounds silly for him to be able to put Tszyu in the top or two in the division if he’s victorious against Murtazaliev. If Tszyu wins on Saturday, he will also have to beat these fighters to take the #1 spot in the 154 lb division:
- Terence Crawford
- Sebastian Fundora
- Vergil Ortiz Jr.
- Serhii Bohachuk
- Israel Madrimov
- Charles Conwell
- Errol Spence
Regardless of how he looks on Saturday against Murtazaliev, he could see Tszyu lose to four or five of those fighters. Even one of the lowest, Madrimov, Conwell and Spence, could beat Tszyu.
“For Tim, his projection continues to be steady. For Murtazaliev, he’s going up very quickly. So, for him, he’s just going to be steady. Steady wins the race for Tim. So, I think he’s going to do that,” Porter said.
Shawn Porter has repeatedly been wrong with his predictions lately. So, you have to tune it out, and see the Tszyu vs. Murtazaliev contest as a toss up. Given Tszyu’s recent loss to Sebastian Fundora, I’ll give the edge to Murtazaliev in this fight.
He is the best puncher, most talented puncher combined, and still undefeated. It’s catching Tszyu at the right time in his career, and he’s still licking his mental wounds from his loss last March.
