Tim Tszyu goes from shedding his world title to Sebastian Fundora — a bloody battle wherein Tszyu suffered a nasty damage — to taking up one other world titleholder in Bakhram Murtazaliev.
Oh, and he was initially hoping to face Vergil Ortiz this summer season, too, till the medical doctors informed Tszyu that he couldn’t but get again within the ring.
That’s a unique route than many different fighters have taken. However that is the way in which that Tszyu needs issues to be.
“There’s no worry. It doesn’t exist in my bloodstream in any respect,” Tszyu informed media on a September 24 convention name. “I simply need the largest and finest challengers on the market. Whoever they name the unhealthy man, give him to me. Feed him to me.”
Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KOs) gained the IBF junior middleweight title in early April, every week after Tszyu vs. Fundora, knocking out Jack Culcay within the eleventh spherical.
Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) isn’t overly accustomed to his subsequent opponent however in any other case is aware of what to anticipate.
“I haven’t actually watched a lot,” Tszyu stated. “I do know what he brings. He brings the warmth. You hit him and he retains coming. These kinds of types, they’re exhausting as a result of they have the canine in him. That at all times presents an amazing activity forward. I imagine in my skills, and every little thing’s going based on plan. Nothing is meant to be straightforward on the street to the highest. There is not any such factor as a simple camp or a simple combat. You need to get to the highest and get the large bucks, you bought to undergo the hearth.”
The hearth is what Tszyu confronted in late March, when his head by chance collided with Fundora’s elbow towards the tail finish of Spherical 2 and opened a horrifying gash on his hairline. Blood poured out and blocked his imaginative and prescient. Tszyu dropped a cut up resolution and his WBO world title, and Fundora additionally picked up the vacant WBC belt.
The hearth can be what Tszyu would have confronted on August 3 had he been cleared to combat Ortiz. As a substitute, Ortiz wound up successful a battle with Serhii Bohachuk on August 10.
And the hearth is what we will anticipate on October 19 on the Caribe Royale Orlando, when Murtazaliev-Tszyu headlines on Amazon’s Prime Video.
“I’m bringing the warmth,” Tszyu stated. “Hopefully he doesn’t take a step again. Hopefully there’s not as a lot blood on my aspect this time. Hopefully there’s going to be some relentless motion, and we carry the followers a combat to recollect.”
And if he will get past Murtazaliev, Tszyu can maintain going for the perfect and baddest on the market, given that he’s in a division stuffed with expertise.
“Crimson scorching names, some large matchups to be made,” he stated. “When you concentrate on it, let’s say within the close to future there’s going to be so many loopy matchups to be made. It’s so thrilling.”
David Greisman, who has coated boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2 and @UnitedBoxingPod. He’s the co-host of the United Boxing Podcast. David’s ebook, “Combating Phrases: The Coronary heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is on the market on Amazon.
