ONCE upon a time, a fight between Terence Crawford and Tim Tszyu was under serious consideration. Following a cut-induced defeat to Sebastian Fundora and a brave yet reckless display on Saturday evening, Tszyu has swiftly fallen out of the Terence Crawford and even Vergil Ortiz Jr realm.
Expecting to overpower and bully Bakhram Murtazaliev just like he’d done to the majority of his previous opponents, Tim stood tall for a scrap, hands held high and Murtazaliev duly obliged. Pride sunk in so deeply that even after being sent to the canvas multiple times, Tszyu stood on wobbly legs and soaked up shots from a variety of angles, believing he could find an equaliser.
As keen as any fight fan, watching along from home, Terence Crawford sent out a volley of tweets as the beating developed, offering analysis such as, “His [Tszyu’s] legs are gone”, followed by “Stop the fight” and “Tim thought he had an easy one. Took this dude lightly and was worried about other fighters”.
However, the most telling message arrived before much of that final commentary, as Crawford offered a damning assessment of not just how the Murtazaliev fight was playing out in real time, but also of what potentially remains of the Sydney slugger’s time at the top:
It’s over for Tim
— Terence Crawford (@terencecrawford) October 20, 2024