Bakhram Murtazaliev: record, next fight and profile →
Immediate action has been taken to fill the latest vacancy left behind by Jermell Charlo. BoxingScene.com has confirmed that the IBF has ordered a vacant junior middleweight title fight between Bakhram Murtazaliev and Jack Culcay. The winner will win the title recently relinquished by Houston’s Charlo, though there is still the matter of reaching a deal to get to that point.
Jermell Charlo remains the true junior middleweight champion but is now two belts removed from undisputed status. BoxingScene.com has confirmed that Houston’s Charlo has vacated the IBF 154-pound title, in lieu of honoring an overdue mandatory title defense versus Bakhram Murtazaliev. A purse bid hearing scheduled for Tuesday was canceled given the circumstances, an IBF spokesperson confirmed. Russia’s Murtazaliev will likely be ordered to next face Germany’s Jack Culcay as the two highest ranked contenders in the IBF ratings. Both fighters not only anticipated such a move but previously confirmed a willingness to move forward with such a fight if it reached that point.
A purse bid hearing has been ordered for a long overdue mandatory title fight. BoxingScene.com has confirmed that the 30-day negotiation period assigned to the ordered Jermell Charlo-Bakhram Murtazaliev junior middleweight championship clash ended without a deal in place. The sanctioning body has now sent
A mandatory title fight more than three years in the making now appears destined for a purse bid hearing. BoxingScene.com has learned that very little progress has been made in the ordered Jermell Charlo-Bakhram Murtazaliev junior middleweight championship clash. The IBF instructed the respective camps for both boxers to enter talks beginning October 10, but the 30-day period—which ends November 9—has not produced much dialogue between camps.
Jermell Charlo was already forced to sever ties with one major title. The unified and lineal junior middleweight champion could now end the year two belts short of his former undisputed status.
LAS VEGAS – Bakhram Murtazaliev has stepped aside four times to allow three title unification fights and another mandated defense since he became the IBF’s mandatory challenger in the junior middleweight division.
LAS VEGAS – Bakhram Murtazaliev kept himself in position Saturday to fight the winner of the Jermell Charlo-Tim Tszyu 154-pound title fight.
LAS VEGAS – Frank Martin stepped as close as he could get to Michel Rivera without touching him after they made weight Friday afternoon. The Indianapolis native will have to close the distance as best he can Saturday night, too, to give himself the best chance to win their 12-round battle between undefeated lightweights at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Martin (16-0, 12 KOs), who officially weighed in at 134¾ pounds, is listed by Caesars Sportsbook as slightly more than a 2-1 favorite over the Dominican Republic’s Rivera (24-0, 14 KOs).
A pair of action-packed bouts will highlight live streaming action on the SHOWTIME SPORTS YouTube channel and SHOWTIME Boxing Facebook page this Saturday, December 17 in a Premier Boxing Champions event from The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
Undefeated junior middleweight star Tim Tszyu has no problem with facing WBO, WBC, IBF, WBA junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo in the United States.