Jim Kambosos, the father, manager, and coach of former lightweight champion George Kambosos from Australia, shared his insights on Bakhram Murtazaliev's victory over Tim Tszyu in an exclusive interview with marvelgamingbet.com.
Tim's father, Kostya Tszyu, is a star. It's very easy to promote Tim in the Australian market. When you have the surname Tszyu, it attracts media attention, helps sell tickets, and grabs headlines because your father is famous. Let’s be honest: Tim has been fighting guys at the second and third levels, not top-level boxers.
“He looked good in his fights against Tony Harrison in Sydney, Brian Mendoza in Queensland, and Carlos Ocampo. In those bouts, Tszyu performed well, but those weren’t tough opponents. When he faced Bakhram… All the Australian media flew to the U.S. to cover Tim's fight against Bakhram. But the whole week leading up to the fight, Tszyu's team was just hanging around and giving interviews. For Murtazaliev, it was just background noise. But look at the result. I don’t think Tim Tszyu will come back. When I say “come back”, I mean returning to the same level. Not a chance. It will take him years, but losing to Bakhram was a mental blow for Tszyu. It was devastating for him.
“You know what. A week before the fight, all the Australian newspapers were writing about how Tszyu’s team was going to become the richest in Australia and fight for $60 million against Terence Crawford or Canelo Alvarez. But you can't look too far ahead; he hadn't even fought Bakhram yet. You have to focus on the opponent you are facing right now. But his team started thinking about Canelo, Crawford, Jermall Charlo, and Errol Spence. This is all about chasing money. Of course, money is important, but not when you have a fight. This was a very serious defeat; I'd call it a brutal beating," Kambosos stated.
On October 19, 2024, a boxing match for the IBF World Championship took place in Orlando between Bakhram Murtazaliev and Tim Tszyu. Murtazaliev won by technical knockout in the third round, marking his 23rd victory in the professional ring.
