IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) says Tim Tszyu (24-2, 17 KOs) “didn’t expect” the left hook that hurt him early in the second round, which made the shot double. powerful third-round TKO victory over the former WBO champion on Saturday night at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida.
(Photo credit: Joseph Correa/Premier Boxing Champions)
Tszyu didn’t know what hit him with the first left hook in the second round, and it was all downhill from there. He will be the first to admit that he made mistakes by choosing to continue trading with Murtazaliev after the first and second blow.
In retrospect, Tszyu, 29, should have punched after the first blow and not engaged Murtazaliev because he kept catching him with left hooks. Tszyu didn’t see those shots coming and was knocked down three times in round 2. That round was a nightmare for Tszyu.
Interestingly, Tszyu didn’t learn his lesson because he was still trading in the third round, and his trainer had told him before he went out for the boxing round.
“That left hook was very powerful, and he didn’t expect it. If you don’t expect it, it has a double effect,” said Bakhram Murtazaliev, speaking to the media following his third-round TKO victory over Tim Tszyu on Saturday night in Orlando.
Tszyu made zero adjustments in the fight, and he should have been able to after being knocked down three times in the second round. His corner told him between rounds not to mess with Murtazaliev, but he came out in the third and almost immediately started throwing bombs. Tszyu’s warrior spirit got the better of him tonight.
“I was thinking about the first round, hearing his power and seeing how hard he hits,” said Murtazaliev. “A lot of people say they see my shot, and it’s sloppy, but that’s how he shot. So, I saw everything, and I wanted to oppose him.”
The way Murtazaliev threw his right hand looked smooth, but his left hook was perfect. It was this weapon that he used again and again tonight to take down Tszyu. He dropped Tszyu once with a short right hand to the side of the head in the second round, but other than that, it was the left hooks that did the damage.
“I am interested in unifying my title and fighting any champion out there. I want to fight with the champion and move up to the division,” continued Murtazaliev. “We didn’t plan anything. If it had ended in the first round, it would have ended then. If it ends in the third round, I didn’t expect anything.”
In a perfect world, Murtazaliev will get other champions, Terence Crawford and Sebastian Fundora, to agree to fight him. However, that doesn’t seem likely. Crawford is only interested in fighting Fundora and Canelo Alvarez.
After tonight’s match, Murtazaliev is now the boogeyman at 154, and will be avoided unless the Honorable Turki Alalshikh gives Crawford and Fundora-mega-millions to fight him. For Crawford, it would have been a lot of money because if he had lost the fight, he would not have received the Canelo parachute retirement payday.
“I was ready for all 12 rounds. Well, it wasn’t that hard because it was over quickly, and I didn’t get hit that hard.
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