Tim Tszyu Says Bakhram Murtazaliev “Not Used To The Spotlight”

Tim Tszyu believes that his opponent, IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev, could be overwhelmed by the moment of being in the spotlight for the first time in their fight this Saturday, October 19th, at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida. Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) is trying to make Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KOs) question himself so he won’t be at his best on Saturday because he needs him not to be.

(Credit: Joseph Correa/Premier Boxing Champions)

Tszyu lost his last fight against Sebastian Fundora on March 30th, and he’s going into this match with a lot of doubt about his career. He’s in a must-win situation against Murtazaliev because if he loses this, those money fights that he’d dreamed about getting could be gone for good.

“I think he’s not used to this spotlight,” said Tim Tszyu to Jai McAllister, about his belief that Bakhram Murtazaliev has never been in a pressure situation like this. “I feel like a lion. A lion goes through plenty of battles in their life, and no matter what, they come up.

“If it pays, why not, and we do have unfinished business?” said Tszyu when asked about whether he’d be interested in fighting inactive former WBA and WBC welterweight champion Keith Thurman, who hasn’t fought in almost three years, and will turn 36-years-old on November 23.

Thurman will have been inactive for three years in February, and whatever popularity he once had many years ago, it’s diminished. He’s fought only four times in the last seven years since 2017. While some of that is injury-related, much of it has to do with just a lack of ambition to keep his career afloat. It would be risky for Tszyu to agree to a fight against Thurman because he might not make it through training camp without suffering an injury related to his age and physical decline.

“Xander? I haven’t had my eyes on him at all. I’ve been sort of chasing the big dogs right now,” said Tszyu when told that unbeaten #3 WBC Xander Zayas said that he wants to fight him.

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 has no punching power to make a fight between him and Tszyu worthwhile for fans to watch. Top Rank is going to need to figure out what they’re going to do with him because he and a couple of other of their notable guys are going nowhere.

“Catch him when he’s unexpecting,” said Tszyu about what his prediction is for his fight against Murtazaliev on Saturday night. “I think he understood a long time ago. I think he’s been dreaming about this fight and thinking about it. I think he’s been overthinking it. In all honesty, I haven’t been thinking much about the fight. When it comes to fight night, I know when to put it on. I got other things.”

Tszyu continually denying that he’s been thinking about his fight against Murtazaliev is a sign that if he were to admit that he’s thought bout the matchup, it would be perceived as a weakness on his part. So, he’s trying to project strength by acting nonchalant about the fight, as it’s just an easy walk in the park.

“This fight is super important for both guys. Should Murtazaliev win this fight, I think he goes to a high level. He takes a big leap up to fighting the top dogs out there,” said Shawn Porter to Jai McAllister about Saturday’s fight between IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev and Tim Tszyu.

If Murtazaliev looks like 24k gold beating Tszyu, he still may 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 the reason why Murtazaliev has been invisible his entire 10-year professional career. He was too dangerous for his own good and not promoted by one of the major U.S. or British promoters that could get him fights.

“For Tim, it’s reclaiming where he was before. He was top three. Now he goes to top one or two in the division [if he’s victorious against Murtazaliev]. He has the loss to Fundora, so we have to take that into account and show respect for that,” said Porter.

Shawn doesn’t say who his top three are at 154, but it sounds silly for him to potentially place Tszyu in the top one or two in the division if he’s victorious against Murtazaliev. If Tszyu wins on Saturday, he’d still have to beat these fighters to take the #1 spot in the 154-lb division:

Terence Crawford
Sebastian Fundora
Vergil Ortiz Jr.
Serhii Bohachuk
Israil Madrimov
Charles Conwell
Errol Spence

Regardless of how good he looks on Saturday against Murtazaliev, I could see Tszyu losing to four or five of those fighters. Even one of the bottom ones, Madrimov, Conwell, and Spence, could beat Tszyu.

“For Tim, his projection continues to stay steady. For Murtazaliev, it goes up really quickly. So, for him, he’s just got to stay steady. Steady wins the race for Tim. So, I think he’s going to do that,” said Porter.

Shawn Porter has been wrong repeatedly with his predictions lately. So, it’s have to tune him out, and view the Tszyu vs. Murtazaliev contest as a toss up. Given Tszyu’s recent loss to Sebastian Fundora, I would give the edge to Murtazaliev in this fight.

He’s the better puncher, more talented combination puncher, and still unbeaten. He’s catching Tszyu at the right moment in his career, and he is still licking his mental wounds from his loss last March.