IBF Junior Middleweight Showdown
Last night’s PBC/Amazon Prime Video Main Event between IBF Junior Middleweight Champion Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 Kos) and challenger, former WBO Champion Tim Tszyu (24-2, 17 Kos) brought the house to its feet with a surprising outcome that unraveled at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida.
The 154-Pound Division received another shake up last night by the way Murtazaliev completely outclassed and demolished the favorite and highly ranked Tszyu within 3 rounds. Quite a few people in the boxing community considered Murtazaliev the weakest link within the Champions but on this night, he put the 154-Pound Division on notice by stopping Tszyu dead on his feet.
To simply put it, Murtazaliev was too strong and accurate to content with. Murtazaliev put them paws on Tszyu early and dropped him with a deadly combination in the second round that to me Tszyu never really recovered from after the standing 8 count. Tszyu proceeded to stand his ground but eventually got clipped again for the second time and got back up to another standing 8 count. He looked shaky on them legs and eventually was dropped again for the third time nearing the end of the second round.
Entering the third round Tszyu looked lost, confused but still game to go toe-to-toe which led to a further inevitable devastating knockdown by a counter left hook that sat him down for the fourth time on the night to another standing 8 count that saw Tszyu rise up to his feet only to get pummelled by an onslaught of unanswered punches prompting Tszyu’s corner to throw in the towel to formally stop the fight.
This was a statement bout that literally shook the 154-Pound Division. The battle for the No. 1 Spot in the Division is looking more and more intriguing where Bakhram Murtazaliev who retained his IBF Junior Middleweight Title has officially entered his name into the conversation. Real Talk!
Congratulations Champ on a very convincing win.
Blaze