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Bakhram Murtazaliev could become the next star at 154 if he can clean out the division, beating the top names that are brave enough to fight him.
The 10-year professional Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) made a name for himself with hardcore boxing fans by destroying former WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu in three rounds last Saturday night at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida.
What IBF 154-lb champion Murtazaliev needs to do now is defeat these fighters to claim the throne in the division:
– Terence Crawford
– Sebastian Fundora
– Israil Madrimov
– Serhii Bohachuk
– Errol Spence
– Vergil Ortiz Jr.
Murtazaliev, 31, will need to work quickly to get those fighters to agree to fight before he starts aging out. The way fighters avoid each other, it could take Murtazaliev years before he’d get a chance to fight most of those fighters. That’s under ideal circumstances, with him winning.
It’s unlikely that Crawford will accept a fight with Murtazaliev because he wants to make sure he doesn’t lose while waiting for Canelo Alvarez to bless him. Initially, Crawford may have thought that it would be a piece of cake for him to collect all the belts at 154, but after his fight against Madrimov, he understands that it’not going to be the same for him.
“We had the shock of Murtazaliev beating Tszyu. Now you realize that Murtazaliev is a very destructive and powerful force within the weight class. You have a weight full of powerful and destructive forces,” said Paulie Malignaggi to Probox TV, discussing IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev’s third-round knockout win over former WBO 154-lb champion Tim Tszyu last Saturday night in Orlando.
“You had tactical and beautiful boxing with Madrimov and Crawford. Which direction are you going to go? I don’t know if Crawford wants to fight at 154 anymore because there’s not enough star power there to tickle his fancy. I think Vergil Ortiz and Murtazaliev would be a collision of destructive powers.”
“If Murtazaliev goes out there and beats all these guys. He’s not a great talker or very marketable, but guess what? He’s a bad man. He beat up a whole weight class. Now you’ve got a star on your hands,” said Chris Algieri. “If you can fight and beat everybody, eventually everyone is going to pay attention.
“If you’ve got a guy like Murtazaliev, who was fighting unknown for his whole career. He was taking step aside money for a bunch of opportunities. He fights Tim Tszyu and blows him out of the water. That’s how you become a star.”
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