Keith Thurman says Tim Tszyu proved he was a “cookie-cutter” made for IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) by walking straight into his power punches in his knockout of the third round Saturday night in the Caribbean. Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida. Tszyu’s corner had to throw in the towel to save him in the third because he had been knocked down four times in the fight, and he was on “Bambi Legs.
(Credit: Joseph Correa/Premier Boxing Champions)
Thurman, who was working as part of the broadcast team for Premier Boxing Champions, noted that former WBO 154-lb champion Tszyu (24-2, 17 KOs) did not make adjustments after being injured and out of the water by falling. four times in the fight.
“Once” Thurman thought Tszyu did the same thing over and over again. He tried to get back into the fight by fighting instead of using his jab and slowing down. Murtazaliev attacked him like a shark with its prey, tore him apart.
“Look at what the left hook did. Bakhram clearly said that there is nothing special about Tim Tszyu, and it is a cutter for Bakhram. They are not only able to say that. They were able to prove it,” he said Keith Thurman at Fighthypereacts to Tim Tszyu’s loss to Bakhram Murtazaliev on Saturday night.
This was the wrong type of fight for the flat-footed Tszyu to be fighting aggressively against due to Murtazaliev’s two-punch power, size and high work rate. It looked like Tszyu hadn’t trained to be on guard for Murtazaliev’s left hook because he was stuck with it the entire fight.
Thurman thinks Tszyu’s trainers should have told the right hand to the side to block the wide left hooks that Murtazaliev was throwing. Tszyu had his hands in front of him to block his straight punches, but was open for Murtazaliev’s hooks.
“You can’t do the same thing over and over again. He was clearly hurt, and he tried to get back into the fight instead of giving him some time and working strategically behind the jab, trying to slow down the pace,” he said Thurman.
Tszyu was probably embarrassed to be knocked down, and wanted to get back at dropping Murtazaliev or knocking him out. That player is in his hands.
“It was almost like you could see Tim shaking on the ground. It was almost like we could see the reverb from the punch as a spectator. Everything in his body is telling his body to shut down. He stood up, and just before his coaches threw in the towel, it was on Bambi’s legs. He still had the audacity to come up with a straight.
“It’s not that scary. It’s not that dangerous. The year he comes here and tries to prove that when you go from a small pool to a big pool, you meet a big fish,” Thurman said about Tszyu.
Obviously, Tszyu is not dangerous compared to the top fighters in the 154lb division, who are fighting at a higher level than he is now. He has lost two fights in a row, and it will be difficult for him to come back from this latest defeat without going into a rebuild.
Tszyu can still punch hard, but he is defensively poor and would have trouble against the big punchers in the 154-lb division.
Thurman sounds like he’s still hoping to get a fight against Tszyu, which isn’t happening now or ever. The former “One Time” hasn’t fought in nearly three years, and he’s been out of the game too long for Tszyu to get a chance to fight. Thurman has likely suffered another injury and will shoot like he did earlier this year.
