by Keith Idec
Bakhram Murtazaliev made a boxing world full of detractors respect him Saturday night.
The unbeaten Russian entered the ring as the defending IBF junior middleweight champion, but Tim Tszyu was listed by numerous sportsbooks as a whopping 7-1 favorite over him. The taller, stronger, determined Murtazaliev dropped Australia’s Tszyu three times in the second round and once more in the third round to stun the former WBO junior middleweight champion, most fans inside Caribe Royale Orlando in Orlando, Florida – including Kostya Tszyu, Tim’s legendary father – and certainly countless viewers of their Premier Boxing Champions main event on Amazon’s Prime Video platform.
Referee Christopher Young stopped their scheduled 12-rounder at 1:55 of the third round after Tszyu’s trainer, Igor Goloubev, threw in the towel as Murtazaliev hammered a disoriented Tszyu.
The 26-year-old Murtazaliev, of Glendale, California, improved to 23-0 and produced his 17th knockout. Sydney’s Tszyu (24-2, 17 KOs) lost a second straight bout, but he suffered his first knockout defeat as a pro.
“You know what? When I landed that first shot, I felt how hard it was,” Murtazaliev told PBC’s Jordan Plant. “And, you know, everybody can be jealous of his will and what kind of warrior he is. And I would like to wish him all the best. And one day, I hope we can work together. He can come to our gym, we can just exchange our experiences and help each other to grow.”
Tszyu still seemed dumbfounded by the result when Plant interviewed him several seconds later.
“Well, you know, every time I step in the ring, I’m willing to die in here,” Tszyu said. “And this is the reason why I do it. You know, things didn’t go to plan. The better man won tonight. No excuses right there. He was just that bit better. And, yeah, again, no excuses. I tried my best and these things happen. Boxing’s not meant to be perfect.”
The 29-year-old Tszyu lost his previous bout as well, but by split decision to 6-foot-6 southpaw Sebastian Fundora on March 30 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Tszyu sustained a nasty cut on the top of his head late in the second round when his head grazed Fundora’s elbow.
That grotesque gash turned their 12-rounder into a bloodbath and enabled Fundora to make it competitive after getting hit with numerous right hands in the first two rounds.
Tszyu had difficulty seeing because his cut man, Mark Gambin, had trouble stopping the cut from bleeding. He still won 116-112 on the scorecard of judge Tim Cheatham, but judges David Sutherland (115-113) and Steve Weisfeld (116-112) scored their fight for Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs), of Coachella, California.
There was no discrepancy as to the rightful winner Saturday night.
Murtazaliev mostly was known prior to annihilating Tszyu for taking step-aside fees four times from 2020-23 to allow former IBF junior middleweight champ Jermell Charlo to participate in 154-pound title unification fights. Murtazaliev made his first title defense Saturday night, six months after he knocked out Ecuador’s Jack Culcay (33-5, 14 KOs) in the 11th round April 6 at Stadthalle in Falkensee, Germany, just outside of Berlin.
Murtazaliev, who won an IBF belt Charlo gave up, didn’t need nearly as much time to knock out Tszyu.
After going down three times in the second round, Tszyu attempted to connect with punches to Murtazaliev’s head and body he hoped would halt Murtazaliev’s momentum. An unfazed Murtazaliev blasted Tszyu with another vicious left hook that dropped him with 1:34 on the clock in the third round.
The courageous Tszyu got up yet again, this time at the count of six, and tried to fight out the deepest trouble of his career. Sensing the end was near, Murtazaliev overwhelmed him with right hands that caused Tszyu to stumble and mercifully made Goloubev throw in the towel.
A ringside physician closely examined Tszyu before he allowed the third round to begin because Tszyu took a brutal beating in the second round.
A clean left hook dropped a stunned Tszyu to the seat of his trunks 39 seconds into the second round. That shot stunned Tszyu, who went down for the third time in his 26-bout professional career.
Tszyu got up quickly, before Young’s count reached four, and tried to hold initially. Then Tszyu tried to slug his way out of that trouble.
Another left hook by Murtazaliev sent Tszyu flat on his back with 1:24 on the clock in the second round, which marked the first time Tszyu was dropped twice in the same fight. Tszyu responded positively to Young’s commands and tried again to do what he does best – fight out of that dire situation.
Tszyu landed a left hand and then a right hand, and later a right cross followed by a right uppercut, that made Murtazaliev back up. He never got his legs under him, however, and Murtazaliev made him pay.
Two left hooks by Murtazaliev made Tszyu lose his footing. He stumbled around the ring until Murtazaliev landed a right hand that sent Tszyu to his elbows and knees, this time with three seconds on the clock in the second round.
Young allowed Tszyu to continue once the brave Aussie reached his feet again, presumably because there wasn’t much time left in that second round.
A flush left hook by Tszyu made Murtazaliev reset his feet with over a minute to go in the first round. Murtazaliev had success of his own in the opening round, when he landed a clean right hand just before the midway mark and another one in its final minute that served as a preview of what was to come.