Boxing Challenge: Murtazaliev drills Tszyu!

     Boxing found itself with another upset Saturday night as Bakhram Murtazaliev knocked Tim Tszyu down four times and pounded him so badly that Tszyu's corner was forced to move to the ring apron and literally wave the towel of surrender in the third round to retain his IBF junior middleweight title in Orlando Florida.

Tsyzu fought well in the first round and things seemed to be in place for Tsyzu for an entertaining victory before something happened in round two- Tszyu couldn't avoid Murtazaliev's left hand.

Murtazaliev scored three knockdowns with Tszyu barely able to reach the corner at the end of the round and the doctor took what seemed to be an extremely lengthy check on Tszyu before the third round, which I thought might have allowed Tsyzu to survive a pivotal time in the fight.

Murtazaliev was having none of that as he immediately attacked Tszyu, sending him to the floor again the fight could have been stopped then but Tazyu showed tremendous will in beating the count and was given one final chance with the admonition that one more knockdown would end the match.

Tsyzu gamely tried to fire back but without any legs under him, Murtazaliev battered Tszyu along the ropes before the corner tossed in the towel to end the fight.

For Murtazaliev, the victory retains his title but also could place him on the radar of the Riyadh Season promoters for bigger fights in the future.

For Tim Tszyu, the loss is a devastating one as the defeat to Sebastian Fundora was excusable under the circumstances but Tszyu lacks any excuse for this setback.

All is not lost, Tszyu fought hard, is always entertaining, and if you remember his father's career, Kostya Tszyi lost a fight to Vince Phillips by knockout that he battled back to hold titles and enter the Hall of Fame.

Still, Tszyu will need to be rebuilt, and I think he needs to be rebuilt over the next one to two years with fighters that can refurbish his reputation and rebuild his confidence.

Earlier in the day, Boxxer saw their talented junior welterweight Adam Azim walk through former contender Ohara Davies on his way to an eighth-round knockout in London.

Give Davies credit, he landed his share of right hands but he lacked the pop to deter Azim, who knocked down Davies in round five and almost finished him off with Davies surviving the round on very shaky legs.

Davies survived until the eighth when a left hook polished Davies off for the evening, with the referee ending the bout with Davies on his knees.

Davies was a step up in competition for Azim and Azim looks to be ready for the next level after an excellent performance.

In a fight that I haven't watched, William Scull won the IBF super middleweight title via unanimous decision over Vladimir Shiskin by unanimous decision to win the title that the IBF stripped from Canelo Alvarez for refusing to defend against the unknown Scull.

Scores for Scull were 116-113, 115-113 and 116-112.

I've read from some that Scull outboxed Shishkin and others that Shiskin deserved the decision but it's agreed that Shiskin hurt Scull in the final round and it's agreed that it was a boring fight.

It will be interesting to see who Scull will defend against and when will the IBF mandate that fight?

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 147 Pts (0)

TRS: 143 Pts (2)
Vince Samano: 88 Pts (2)  

Boxing Challenge: Martin outclasses Rivera

     The Showtime main event from Las Vegas expected to see two undefeated young lightweights duel in their first major test and it was hard to predict which would emerge victorious.

Instead, the Errol Spence protege' Frank Martin dominated Michel Rivera, knocked him down in the seventh round, and showed that while Martin is a talented boxer, he can punch a bit as well.

Martin won easily by scores of 120-107, 118-109, and 117-110 officially with my scorecard in the range of the officials at 119-108.

Martin's win came in a WBA eliminator, so he should move up in the ratings and with his talent, Martin should be in the center of the fallout when Devin Haney eventually moves to junior welterweight and vacates all four titles.

Frank Martin is going to be a tough out for anyone in the lightweight division and I'm anxious to see him when he makes the next step of the ladder of contention but PBC isn't exactly lightweight-heavy currently.

Other than Gervonta Davis and I can tell you that I have a better chance of winning the Boston Marathon than Gervonta Davis does of facing Frank Martin unless he is forced and Issac Cruz, there are no other threats to Martin on the PBC roster, so I'm hoping that he doesn't stagnate against average opponents over the next year or two.

In the co-feature, undefeated Vladimir Shishkin defeated former IBF super middleweight champion Jose Uzcategui by unanimous decision in an IBF eliminator that will earn Shishkin another eliminator berth in his next fight.

Uzcategui never threatened Shishkin, who outboxed and outpunched the former champion, who has never resembled the one-time "fighter no one wanted to face" after his upset defeat to Caleb Plant in 2019.

Shishkin is a solid all-around fighter that does nothing outstanding but everything well and could pick up a world title at some time in his career, provided that an elite champion doesn't hold the title at the time of his challenge.

The Showtime broadcast mentioned Shishkin as a possibility for minor titleholder David Morrell and I would really like that fight.

It would test both fighters against the best opponent of their career and the winner could make an argument as the number two contender in the division behind the winner of the January David Benavidez-Caleb Plant matchup for unified champion Canelo Alvarez.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 213 Pts (4)

Ramon Malpica: 180 Pts (2)

Vince Samano: 165 Pts (0) 

Boxing Challenge: Kovalev Knocks Out Yarde

The boxing challenge weekend's most important bout came from Russia as Sergey Kovalev battled through a rough patch or two in the middle rounds and managed to retain his WBO light heavyweight title in knocking out a brave Anthony Yarde in the eleventh round.

Kovalev was ahead on my card at the end of ten 97-93 and a seemingly exhausted Yarde was caught for the one-punch KO with a straight right to prove Kovalev's power is still intact, but Yarde, a very good puncher, had Kovalev badly hurt in the eighth round and the questions about Kovalev's chin at this stage of his career certainly remain, although the questions about his willingness to fight through adversity were certainly answered.
Still, Kovalev certainly seems to be a fighter that may have seen his best days by being buzzed by the strong punching, but very inexperienced on the world-class level Yarde and while I would not say that Kovalev struggled in this title defense, he clearly had his problems and there might be a race to see who can get to the potentially vulnerable champion-a race that seems to likely to be won by one Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.

In Mexico on DAZN, Juan Francisco Estrada retained his WBC junior bantamweight title in a homecoming squash match against DeWayne Beamon with a ninth-round knockout.
Estrada, who had won his title against Sriskaket Sor Rungvisai in a rematch in his last fight, was due for a fight that was not a grueling one and he got it against Beamon, who had never beaten anyone close to being a contender.
Estrada won every round and knocked Beamon down twice in the second round, but spent more time playing to the crowd at times or he may have been able to get Beamon out of their early.
Beamon tried throughout and even landed a shot or two, but was clearly overmatched against the best 115 pounder in the world.
Estrada could be matched against WBA champion Kal Yafai, who is also affiliated with Matchroom/DAZN or a rubber match against Rungvisai next time out.

Friday night from Broken Arrow Oklahoma brought a rare challenge fight from the ShoBox with Vladimir Shishkin dominating DeMarcus Ware over eight rounds before Ware's trainer stopped the fight with Ware taking a beating in the eighth.
The decorated Russian amateur methodically broke down Ware, who was entering the fight after his biggest career win over Ronald Ellis, and in winning every round on my card, showed that Shishkin is ready for world-class opposition.

In Nagoya Japan, Kosei Tanaka stopped Jonathan Gonzalez in the seventh round to retain his WBO flyweight title.
Tanaka's bodywork slowed the fast-moving challenger, who looked pretty slick for the first two rounds against the heavily favored champion.
However, when the body shots began to land, the foot speed slowed and Tanaka would score a knockdown in the third to turn the fight.
Gonzalez was given credit for a knockdown in the same round, although his knockdown seemed to a result of some grappling rather than any landed punches.
Tanaka's bodywork ended the fight in the seventh with three knockdowns, all off punches to the body and even though Gonzalez continued to try to survive after each, he was clearly deflated and the stoppage was a very good one.

Fox Sports One completed the challenge fights from Edinburg, Texas as Brandon Figueroa crushed Javier Chacon in four rounds to retain his minor title.
Figueroa might have similar talent to his brother Omar, who between out of the ring issues, inactivity, and poor management has wasted it and should he keep his nose to the grindstone, he could be a star.
Figueroa might be on the "wrong side of the street" for now though with his affiliation with PBC being a hindrance to fights against the best champions in the 122 pound division with WBA/IBF champion Danny Roman (Matchroom), WBC champion Rey Vargas (Golden Boy) and WBO titleholder Emanuel Navarrete (Top Rank) all with opposite promoters that are unlikely to work to make an appealing fight happen.

In the boxing challenge, I outscored Ramon Malpica 7-5 to increase my lead to 214-184.