Nearly 10 months have passed since Bakhram Murtazaliev announced himself as a force at 154 lbs by stopping Tim Tszyu in three clinical rounds. Since then the IBF champion’s gloves have gathered dust while would-be challengers talked a good game, only to evaporate when contracts landed. Now, at last, the sanctioning body has ended the waiting game, instructing Murtazaliev’s team to strike a deal with mandatory contender Erickson Lubin by 4 August or head to purse bids.
Murtazaliev says a September or October date suits him perfectly; Ramadan begins in late February and he wants at least one defence beforehand. Lubin (29-2, 19 KOs) is eager too, the Russian notes, “because if he doesn’t fight for the title now, then when?” On paper it is an excellent match-up: Lubin’s south-paw skill and recent stoppage of Ardreal Holmes versus the champion’s timing, power and air of menace that overwhelmed Tszyu.
Watch Murtazaliev vs. Tszyu highlights: Watch
Until the IBF intervened, Murtazaliev’s promoter Main Events had been negotiating a voluntary defence against England’s Josh Kelly. Broadcast commitments stalled the talks and Kelly’s camp fell silent - “He called us out, we accepted, suddenly no one wanted to fight,” Murtazaliev says with a shrug. If a UK TV deal materialises, the champion would still happily travel for that bout, but in the United States Lubin looks the likelier assignment.
The champion bristles at the suggestion he is inactive by choice. A broken right hand suffered a week before the Tszyu fight healed quickly - he even declined surgery to accelerate his return - yet every name floated since then has ultimately withdrawn. “When it’s time to type on a keyboard, everybody wants the fight. When it’s time to sign, nobody does,” he says.
Should negotiations with Team Lubin collapse, purse bids would set the showdown in stone, and Murtazaliev insists he is ready “anywhere, anytime.”
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