Trainer Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis believes WBA junior middleweight champion Terence Crawford would stop IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev if the pair meet for a unification fight. Bozy feels that Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) has too much technical ability for Murtzaliev (23-0, 17 KOs).
Bozy feels that Crawford’s ability to strike and move will lead him to a win over the mighty Murtazaliev, who looked devastating in his recent win over Tim Tszyu.
Many fans feel that Crawford lacks the strength and youth to defeat Murtazaliev. The 37-year-old Crawford looked old and frail in his recent debut at 154 on August 3. Crawford took a shellacking against Israil Madrimov and looked his age and then some.
If Madrimov was more popular, he would have gotten the decision because he hit Crawford with the better punches in every round of the fight. The judges scored the fight as an amateur affair rather than a professional fight.
Father Time is knocking on Crawford’s door
If you watch his fight against Isrial Madrimov, you can see that Father Time is knocking on Crawford’s door. If he sticks to taking on a young killer like Murtazaliev, he may regret it later.
It wouldn’t be a big deal for Crawford to risk his neck against Murtazaliev if he wasn’t still hoping the Tooth Fairy would deliver the Canelo Alvarez fight to him.
Crawford is saving himself for that dream fight, and he’s not expected to take any risky fights against someone like Murtazaliev and let him mess things up.
“Terence is a very different fighter to Tim Tszyu. More strategic and more technical. I think Terence would stop him in the tenth or eleventh round. He will have to beat him and work on him. Same as he did against Postol,” said coach Greg Hackett YSM Sports Media when asked about his thoughts on a fight between Terence Crawford and Bakhram Murtazaliev. “He will have to work on him.”
Hackett, using Crawford’s win over Viktor Postol in July 2016 as why he will defeat Murtazaliev is a poor example. Crawford was 28 when he fought Postol and was fighting a weaker fighter at 140. He’s now fighting at 154, older, slower, and will face a much bigger and stronger fighter than the lanky Postol.
Hackett is right about Crawford being different from former WBO junior middleweight champion Tszyu. He is less powerful than Tszyu, older and less ambitious. The shots that Bakhram Murtazaliev dropped Tszyu with would have done the same to Crawford, and probably much sooner, as he has never been beaten like that in his career.
For Crawford to have any chance of beating Murtazaliev, he will have to get in the trenches against him and land some massive shots over the 12 rounds in order to win a decision. I don’t think Crawford could handle six rounds of being hit by Murtazaliev without counting out or getting pulled out by his longtime trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre.
Bozy predicts Crawford Knockout
“I think it will be a good fight for Terence, and I’ll put my money on Terence,” trainer Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis said. YSM Sports Mediapredicting a win for Terence Crawford over IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev should they fight.
“I think Terence will handle that guy. I know he would have beaten him. Terence’s style. He can box, he can punch and he can move. Remember, Tim Tszyu was right in front of him and walking right up to him. Terence is not going to walk like that.”
Omaha, Nebraska native Crawford showed in his debut at 154 against Israil Madrimov on August 3 that he is not the same fighter in this weight class as he has been in the past. Everything is different now for Crawford, who is a junior middleweight, against these young killers. He doesn’t have the power in his punches in this weight class like he does in the other three divisions, and he’s getting old.
Crawford looked like a 40-year-old against Madrimov, eating right hands like they were candy. He didn’t land a single right hand in that fight and looked like he was run over by a train at the end of the fight. Crawford’s face was swollen and marked.
“Terence is going to move his head, use his jab, use different angles and set him up. Terence would have a chance to stop him. I’ll bet it goes the distance. Terence would tear him down. Terence is very smart,” Bozy said.
Bozy bases his views on Crawford for his victories over the fighters he beat many years ago at 147, 140 and 135. It was a long time ago against weaker, smaller and less talented fighters than Murtazaliev. Plus, the 37-year-old Crawford is no spring chicken at this late stage of his 16-year career. He’s further hurt his game by only fighting once a year for the last four years since 2020, and that has a lot to do with the money he’s made.
Crawford was hit with a lot of right hands in his fight against Israil Madrimov, and it didn’t matter that he moved his head. He ate the whole fight with right hands and was very lucky to get the decision. If Madrimov was busier and had the same powerful left hook that Bakhram has in his arsenal, he would have beaten Crawford.
