By Ian S Palmer
Original article; https://www.sportsbetlistings.com/boxing/bakhram-murtazaliev-vs-tim-tzsyu-betting-odds-and-prediction/25671/
Unbeaten IBF Super Welterweight Champion Bakhram Murtazaliev of Russia will be heading down to Orlando, Florida this Saturday, October 12th to take on Tim Tzsyu of Australia. Murtazaliev won the vacant belt in April when he stopped Jack Culcay in the 11th round. Tzsyu was last in action in March when he dropped a dropped a split decision to WBC Champion Sebastian Fundora in a title unification bout. Tzsyu suffered a wicked head cut but went the distance and lost his WBO Title in the process. This weekend’s fight can be seen live on Prime Video.
Bakhram Murtazalievis 31 years old, fights out of Oxnard, California and carries around a perfect record of 22-0 with 16 Ko’s. He’s got 101 rounds of pro experience under his belt since making his debut in 2014 following his amateur career. He stands 6-feet-tall with an unlisted reach and possesses quite a bit of power as his current knockout ratio stands at 72.7 per cent. However, he’s gone the distance in three of his last six fights.
Since turning pro, Murtazalievis has also captured the IBA Americas, vacant WBC USA and vacant Eurasian Boxing Parliament Super Welterweight Belts. He’s yet to take on a legitimate top-10 contender as his biggest victories have been against Culcay, Khiary Gray, Manny Woods, Jorge Fortea, Bruno Leonardo Romay, Elvin Ayala, Norberto Gonzalez and Fernando Carcamo.
The Tszyu name is well known in boxing as Tim is the son of former world champion Kostya Tszyu and the brother of Nikita Tzsyu. The 29-year-old climbs into the ring with a fine mark of 24-1 with 17 Ko’s. He stands just under 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 70.5-inch reach, so gives up 3.5-inches in height to the champion. Tzsyu also possesses better-than-average power as 70.8 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage but has gone the distance in four of his last six fights.
He’s boxed 141 rounds since making his pro debut in 2016 following a good amateur career and has also captured the interim WBA Oceania, WBO Asia Pacific, WBC Asian Boxing Council Continental, IBF Australasian, Commonwealth, WBO Global, and Australian Super Welterweight Titles since turning pro. Tszyu’s first step up in class came in August, 2020 when he stopped former world champion Jeff Horn in the seventh round.
Tzsyu halted former world champion Tony Harrison in the ninth round in March, 2023 to claim the Interim WBO Title and was elevated to full champion when Jermell Charlo was stripped of the belt when he fought Canelo Alvarez. Tszyu has also faced and beat legitimate contenders in Carlos Ocampo, Brian Mendoza, Terrell Gausha and Takeshi Inoue as they fought for world titles in the past and also has wins over the likes of Dennis Hogan, Wade Ryan, Steve Spark, Jack Brubaker, Ruben Webster, Larry Siwu, Denton Vassell, Joel Camilleri and the late Dwight Ritchie.
Prediction…
Murtazalievis and Tzsyu have plenty of power and solid chins while Tzsyu also displayed tremendous heart while losing a lot of blood in his loss to Fundora. This should be a close and interesting fight and Tzsyu’s experience against tougher opposition should be helpful. As long as his head cut doesn’t reopen and he’s in top form, I’m expecting Tzsyu to leave the ring as the new champion.
