Antonio Tarver Analyses Bakhram Murtazaliev’s Dominant Win Over Tim Tszyu

On Saturday, October 19, at the Caribe Royale Orlando, Tim Tszyu (24-2, 17 KOs) was emphatically stopped in round three of his IBF super welterweight world title fight against Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs). It was an impressive performance from the Russian fighter in the No Limit Boxing and Main Events promoted headline fight, streamed exclusively on Prime Video for all Prime members in the United States and select countries. Following the fight, TJ Rives spoke to Antonio Tarver and “The Magic Man” gave his reaction to the three-round destruction and spoke about mistakes made by team Tszyu.

Antonio Tarver Breaks Down Bakhram Murtazaliev Victory Over Tszyu

Antonio Tarver Insights on Tszyu’s Strategy

TJ began the interview by asking Tarver how and why Murtazaliev made such light work of Tim Tszyu: “Well, here’s a guy coming in undefeated, 23-0, 17 Knockouts. You know, sometimes the one thing that’s harder to go than that 0 is that belt. He’s a world champion. I just think, when you look at (Sebastian) Fundora fight, Tim Tszyu may have needed a tune-up fight, just to get the cobwebs out,” said Tarver.

The Florida native continued: “In this game, in today’s game, there’s no such thing as tune-up fights. They either going for it all. It’s all or nothing it seems and I think these guys just need to pull back a little bit. I think a good 10-round fight with a mid-range type of guy to get some rounds in and get some work, then bring him back for all the marbles.”

When asked about Tszyu not being able to come through adversity, Tarver said: “Well, you know he felt as if he could land his shot he can turn it around, but there was times where he almost cleared his head and then he went offensively a little bit too soon and he was still reckless and he got clipped. I would have wanted him to just focus on defence. Let this guy spent himself a little bit and then you come on with your offence.”

To hear Tarver’s reaction and more from the “Fight Freaks Unite Recap Podcast” with Dan Rafael and TJ Rives, click the play button below.

Credit for Murtazaliev

Tarver was asked about Murtazaliev deserving all the credit for his performance and he said: “Most definitely, it the way he won, the way he shut Tim Tszyu out and got him out of there. That was very impressive, and I’m pretty sure now the big players in the game are looking at that IBF belt because they may think he’s the weakest link. That is still to be revealed.”