“Tim Tszyu Was On Cookie-cutter Made For Bakram,” Says Keith Thurman

Keith Thurman says Tim Tszyu proved that he was a “cookie-cutter” made for IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) by walking straight into his power shots in his third-round knockout on Saturday night at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida. Tszyu’s corner had to throw in the towel to save him in the third because he’d been dropped 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 the former WBO 154-lb champion Tszyu (24-2, 17 KOs) made no adjustments after being hurt and getting blown out of the water in getting dropped four times in the fight.

‘One Time’ Thurman felt that Tszyu did the same thing over and over again. He tried to put himself back into the fight by fighting instead of using his jab and slowing the pace down. Murtazaliev was attacking him like a shark with its prey, tearing him apart.

“Look what the left hook did. Bakhram clearly said that there’s nothing special about Tim Tszyu, and he’s cookie-cutter made for Bakhram. Not only were they able to say that. They were able to prove it,” said Keith Thurman to Fighthype, reacting to Tim Tszyu’s loss to Bakhram Murtazaliev on Saturday night.

This was the wrong type of fighter for the flat-footed Tszyu to be fighting aggressively against because of Murtazaliev’s two-fisted 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 getting hit with it the entire fight.

Thurman thinks that Tszyu’s coaches should have told him to right hand up 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 wide open for Murtazaliev’s hooks.

“You can’t do the same thing over and over again. He was clearly hurt, and he tried to put himself right back into the fight instead of giving himself some time and strategically working behind the jab, trying to slow down the pace,” said Thurman.

Tszyu was likely embarrassed at getting knocked down, and he wanted to get it back by 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 reverb from the punch as a spectator. Everything in his body is telling his body to shut down. He stood back up, and right before his coaches threw in the towel, he was on Bambi’s legs. He couldn’t stand up. He still had the audacity to come with an overhand right.

“He’s not that scary. He’s not that dangerous. The year of him coming over here and trying to prove that when you go from a little pool to a big pool, you run into some big fish,” said Thurman about Tszyu.

Obviously, Tszyu isn’t dangerous compared to the top fighters in the 154-lb division, who are fighting at a higher level than he is now. He’s lost two fights in a row, and it’s going to be difficult for him to come back from this latest defeat without going on a rebuild.

Tszyu can still punch hard, but he’s defensively poor and would have problems against the big punchers in the 154-lb division.

Thurman sounds like he’s still hoping to get a fight against Tszyu, which is not happening now or ever. Old ‘One Time’ hasn’t fought in almost three years, and he’s been out of the game for too long for Tszyu to take a chance of fighting him. Thurman would likely suffer another injury and would pull like he did earlier this year.