Trainer Greg Hackett sees Terence Crawford demolish IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev and knock him out in the ninth round as the pair fight in a unification.
Hackett points out that Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) is not Tim Tszyu, and it won’t be the same situation for Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) as it was against him last Saturday night in his third-round knockout victory in Orlando, Florida.
Murtazaliev with too many advantages
Crawford has more experience, but Murtazaliev has too many advantages for the aging Omaha, Nebraska native to take on this killer. Here’s what Crawford would be up against if he chose to face Murtazaliev:
– Size
– Youth
– Power
– Reach
Crawford has been a part-time fighter for the last four years since 2020, and he couldn’t step into the ring with a devastating puncher like Murtazaliev without something bad happening to him. We saw Crawford get hit a lot in his last fight by Israil Madrimov, and he was lucky to be facing a guy who didn’t throw a lot of punches.
If Crawford fights Murtazaliev, he will be hit a lot more by shots as hard as the ones that knocked out Tim Tszyu.
The 37-year-old Crawford has not mentioned wanting to fight Murtazaliev, and he likely chose the less dangerous WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov in his recent debut at 154 on August 3. Some believe that Crawford strategically chose 11-fight starter Madrimov rather than take on the more dangerous threat, Murtazaliev.
“It will be a great fight for Terence Crawford. He is at that level. Bakhram, everybody’s talking about him now because of what he did to Tim Tszyu, but that’s what happens in boxing when you take fights,” trainer Greg Hackett said. Battle hype when asked about a unification fight between WBA 154-lb champion Terence Crawford and IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev.
“Obviously we don’t know much about him, but from what I see, he has an up-and-down style. He’s got a good jab, right hand and hook, and that’s all you need in boxing are the good basics,” Hackett continued about Murtazaliev. “If you have good basics, you can make things happen. Of course Terence Crawford is not Tim Tszyu.”
Crawford’s lack of power
Crawford doesn’t possess the punching power that Tszyu brought to the table in his fight against Bakhram Murtazaliev, and he’s not going to mix it up with the tall 6’0″ IBF champion after what he saw he did to Tim.
“Terence Crawford comes with a lot more elements than Tim Tszyu. So, I think he will give Bakhram a world of trouble just behind his sting alone. He’ll take a while to break him down, stick him to the body. He will work his way to the ninth round and then get him out. Bakhram was caught with a few shots he felt, but he remained determined and stayed on the mission. I don’t think Bakhram can beat Terence Crawford,” says Hackett.
There is little chance that Crawford will knock out Murtazaliev because he will have to get off his bike and stand in the pocket and exchange shots. He’s not going to do it. We saw Crawford fight the pot-shot fighter Madrimov, and it was basically all jabs.
Crawford played it safe, taking no chances but still getting eaten by numerous right hands all night. His face was badly scarred at the end of the fight, and he looked like the loser of the contest, which was very close. Crawford barely won, winning by scores of 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113. Murtazaliev is a combination puncher with devastating power, and he won’t throw the occasional potshot right hand at Crawford like Madrimov did.
Crawford would probably never agree to fight Murtazaliev after watching what he did to Tszyu. He still is and hopes the Saudis will get him ready for a retirement payday fight against Canelo Alvarez, who he doesn’t rate since he’s never fought at 168 or even at 160. He’s not going to get in the ring with Murtazaliev and have him. squandering his chances for a golden parachute that launches.
