Terence Crawford says Tim Tszyu took IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) calmly, specializing in different fighters he wished to face, and paid the value by getting knocked out within the third spherical in an upset loss final Saturday evening in Orlando, Florida.
This combat was a 100% obliteration by Mutazaliev that had a Foreman-esque about it with the blasted an overwhelmed Tszyu to the canvas thrice in spherical 2 and as soon as in spherical 3.
The got here with Tszyu trying like a ragdoll, getting raked by a heavy bomhardment of high-explosive punches within the third. Tszyu’s had been gone and he was on the verge of taking place for a fifth time within the combat when his nook threw within the white towel of give up.
Did Tszyu Take Murtazaliev Calmly?
Tszyu didn’t seem to take Murtazaliev “calmly” in any respect. He educated laborious for the combat and appeared bodily in higher form than he had in his earlier combat towards Sebastian Fundora final March. His drawback was selecting to brawl with the knockout artist Murtazaliev. That was a dumb transfer as a result of he lacked the protection, mobility, pace, and measurement to combat that type of battle towards this man.
Crawford, who holds the WBA 154-lb title, states that Murtazaliev was simply “too sturdy” for the previous WBO champion Tszyu final evening. He dropped him 4 instances within the three-round bloodbath within the Premier Boxing Champions card on the Caribe Royale Resort. Three knockdowns got here within the second, and Tszyu was shortly completed off in spherical 3.
The way in which Mutazaliev appeared final evening, he’d have additionally overwhelmed Crawford. He’s too sturdy, aggressive, and has an excessive amount of youth for the 37-year-old Omaha, Nebraska native, who barely gained his final combat at 154 towards Israil Madrimov final August. If that had been Madrimov that Crawford had been dealing with, he’d be in the identical boat as Tszyu now, inching in direction of retirement.
The Further Time Didn’t Assist
Crawford didn’t like the way in which Tszyu was “given time” earlier than the beginning of the third spherical when the ringside physician examined him contained in the ring. That appeared to take without end, however it didn’t change the result. Tszyu was too far passed by that time, and he probably might have been given an hour, however he nonetheless would have been knocked out by Bakhram.
No matter probability Tszyu had of recovering, he blew it by charging ahead firstly of spherical threw, hurling right-hand energy photographs, hoping to catch Murtazaliev with certainly one of them to trurn the combat round.
Murtazaliev took benefit of the punch-drunk Tszyu by blasting him to the canvas with a vicious proper hand to the pinnacle. That punch appeared just like the clubbing proper {that a} younger George Foreman knocked out Joe Frazier with of their first combat in in 1973.
Tszyu went down in the identical means. When Tszyu acquired up, and checked out Murtaliev and his facial features was pure shock. It was like he didnt what was taking place to him.
Murtazaliev then shortly completed off the dazed Tszyu, nailing him with highly effective photographs that had him stumbling across the ring, teetering on his toes, about to fall over. Tszyu’s nook then properly tossed within the towel to save lots of him earlier than he may very well be pole-axed by the highly effective Murtazaliev.
Tszyu’s Profession Imploding
The loss places Tszyu’s profession in a foul form as a result of it’s going to be near-impossible for him to return again from this defeat. What boxing followers fail to appreciate is that Tszyu could not have been that good to start with.
Even earlier than Tszyu’s loss to Fundora earlier this yr on March thirtieth, his greatest career-wins had come towards flawed fighters like Carlos Ocampo, Tony Harrison, Brian Mendoza, Terrell Gausha and Steve Spark. These guys weren’t leading edge elite-level fighters at 154.
Tim thought he had a straightforward one. Took this dude calmly and was nervous about different fighters.
— Terence Crawford (@terencecrawford) October 20, 2024
