Bakhram Murtazaliev spent years waiting to get a shot at the IBF junior middleweight championship before finally winning the title in April. On Saturday night, he got a statement win in his first title defense, battering Tim Tszyu for a third-round TKO.
Tszyu entered as a clear favorite according to the gambling odds, but the fight had all the potential in the world to turn into a firefight between two aggressive offensive fighters. Tszyu was willing to play that game with the champion but that proved to be his demise as Murtazaliev was able to deliver his shots more quickly and with more impact.
As the fighters traded big shots in the second round, Murtazaliev landed a left hook that put Tszyu down on the canvas. A straight left moments later was the second knockdown of the round and then a right hand dropped Tszyu for the third time.
Tszyu was saved by the bell after the third knockdown and was checked by the doctor before the start of the third and was allowed to continue. Not long after, Tszyu was dropped by another massive left hook. To his credit, Tszyu rose to his feet again, receiving a warning from the referee that one more knockdown would result in a stoppage.
Murtazaliev pounced, continuing to pour on offense until Tszyu's corner threw in the towel to end the bout at the 1:55 mark of Round 3.
With the win, Murtazaliev confirmed he was more than the beneficiary of Jermell Charlo being stripped of his four world titles and opening the path for Murtazaliev to get his long-overdue championship opportunity against Jack Culcay. In that fight, Murtazaliev was battling fasting for Ramadan as well as Culcay and required a late comeback stoppage to win the belt.
On Saturday, Murtazaliev was at full force and he ran through Tszyu, who was looking to rebound from losing his WBO title against Sebastian Fundora in a war in March.
"Every time I step in the ring, I'm willing to die here," Tszyu said after the fight. "Things didn't go to plan and the better man won tonight. No excuses here. I tried my best. It's not meant to be perfect, so you live and you learn. ... I think it was after the first shot that things didn't go according to plan. That's boxing, you get hit and your reactions are a lot slower. Victory goes to Bakhram tonight."