Former WBO super-welterweight champion is aiming to become a two-time 154lb champion on Saturday night as he takes on reigning IBF title-holder Bakhram Murtazaliev in a first fight since losing his belt. However, despite a difficult task ahead of him, the Aussie is hoping that the contest is far less arduous than his last.
Tszyu was seen as the poster boy of the super-welterweight division just months ago and was being linked to a showdown with arguable pound-for-pound number one, Terence Crawford, ahead of the American’s eventually successful move up from 147lbs.
Yet, after Keith Thurman pulled out of their title contest, ‘The Soul Taker’ proceeded with his fight date and accepted a clash with late-notice replacement Sebastian Fundora – appropriately nicknamed as ‘The Towering Inferno – who represented an entirely different obstacle than the bout that Tszyu had been preparing for.
An early cut to Tszyu did not aid his attempted title defence but Fundora did enough to edge a win a split-decision on the scorecards in one of the upsets of the year, becoming the unified WBC and WBO champion (as the vacant WBC crown was also on the line for that contest).
Although Tszyu was hopeful of a rematch with Fundora, the 29-year-old son of the legendary Kostya Tszyu has instead accepted a title challenge against Russia’s Murtazaliev, in the hopes of thrusting his name back into the title picture for possible unification affairs during 2025.
In an interview with Fight Hub TV, Tszyu admitted that he is not concerned with what the IBF champion will bring to the table and that, in a perfect scenario, the fight will be over inside 30 seconds.
“I haven’t thought much about him at all, in all honesty. I know he’s tough and dangerous and stuff like that. It’s me who’s in the ring. Exactly,”
“[Ideally I stop him in] 30 seconds, but I’m not looking for the knockout,”
“I’m just looking to show the dog in me, and I’m ready to have that feeling back.”
Murtazaliev-Tszyu takes place in Orlando on Saturday October 19th and will be the first PBC card on Amazon Prime to not be a pay-per-view event.
Boxing Social is now on WhatsApp! Join our channel by clicking here and getting all the latest boxing news direct to your phone.