After Winning The IBF 154 lb Title, Bakhram Murtazaliev Can’t Seem To Get A Big Fight

In February, Duva told FightsATW, “Bakhram (Murtazaliev) was recently given the all-clear by his doctor to start training,” said Duva. “The good news is that his hand feels good. Ramadan starts on Friday, so he plans to begin training in earnest after Ramadan ends in late March. In the meantime, we will wait for the result of Fundura-Booker (March 22) and begin to consider all of the available possibilities for a fight sometime in June. But at this point, other than the general desire to unify the titles, there is not yet a clear plan in place for Bakhram’s next fight.”

On Wednesday morning, I followed up with the long-time promoter Duva to see if there were any new developments with regard to fight news for Murtazaliev.

“Sadly, no,” Duva told FightATW. “Virgil Ortiz refused to fight him. Fundora prefers a rematch with Tszyu! Of course. We are working on a few other ideas. It’s too bad. Any fight with him would ensure fireworks! And boxing could use some fireworks right now.”

Duva has been in the business of promoting for over 40 years, and the last line, although she did not say this explicitly, could be pointed at this past weekend’s disappointing fight cards, not named Naoya Inoue vs. Ramon Cardenas. The lack of entertainment because of the guarantees of future fights made ahead of time has watered down some of the matchups. In October, Murtazaliev gave us entertainment in the form of a shocking TKO victory, but it was the gift and the curse. The latter being that it warned contenders and big names within the 154-pound division that maybe it’s a fight they shouldn’t take right away.

Now Murtazaliev and his team have the difficult task of finding a meaningful fight, but is there one available in the next few months? Xander Zayas and Jorge Garcia will look to fight for the WBO crown at some point this summer. Fundora is rematching Tszyu. Vergil Ortiz appears to have other plans. The only remaining title is the WBA interim held by Yoenis Tellez, who may face either Jesus Ramos Jr. or Abass Baraou. So there isn’t a huge name out there unless Tom Loeffler and 360 Promotions take a gamble and put Callum Walsh in there with Murtazaliev. That would be a helluva fight, but it’s slim pickings outside of that.

For now, Duva and team Murtazaliev will have to work hard to get their guy a fight soon, as dates are filling up quickly, and before you know it, Murtazaliev will be a year removed from his last fight.