Trainer Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis believes WBA junior middleweight champion Terence Crawford will stop IBF’s Bakhram Murtazaliev if the pair meet in a unification fight. Bozy feels that Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) has more technical ability than Murtzaliev (23-0, 17 KOs).
Bozy feels that Crawford’s ability to punch and move will lead to a victory over the powerful Murtazaliev, who looked hurt in his recent win over Tim Tszyu.
Many fans feel that Crawford lacks the strength and youth to defeat Murtazaliev. Crawford, 37, looked old and frail when he made his debut at 154 on August 3. Crawford scored a shellacking against Israel Madrimov, looking his age and then some.
If Madrimov was more popular, he would have won the decision because he hit Crawford with the better shots in every round of the fight. The judges scored the fight as a fantasy rather than a professional fight.
Father Time Knocked on Crawford’s Door
You could tell from watching his fight with Isrial Madrimov that Father Time was knocking on Crawford’s door. If he sticks around to take on a young assassin like Murtazaliev, he might regret it later.
It wouldn’t be a big deal for Crawford to risk his neck against Murtazaliev if he didn’t already have hope that the legend would bring him the Canelo Alvarez fight.
Crawford is saving himself from that dream fight, and he’s not expected to fight someone like Murtazaliev and have him screw things up.
“Terence is a different fighter than Tim Tszyu. A lot of techniques and a lot of technology. I think Terence will stop him in the tenth or eleventh round. He has to beat him and work for him. The same way we did against Postol,” said coach Greg Hackett to YSM Sports Media when asked about his thoughts on the fight between Terence Crawford and Bakhram Murtazaliev. “He’ll have to work on himself.”
Hackett, using Crawford’s win over Viktor Postol in July 2016 as a reason to beat Murtazaliev is a bad example. Crawford was 28 when he fought Postol and was fighting at 140 against a weaker fighter. He’s fighting at 154 now, he’s older, he’s slower, and he’ll be facing a much bigger and stronger fighter than the skinny Postol.
Hackett is right about Crawford being different than 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 sooner because he has never been hit like that in his career.
In order for Crawford to have any chance of beating Murtazaliev, he will need to go to the ropes against him and land some big shots in 12 rounds to win a decision. I don’t think Crawford can handle a six-round knockout of Murtazaliev without a count-out or need to be taken out by his long-time trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre.
Bozy Predicting the Crawford Knockout
“I think that would be a good fight for Terence, and I would put my money on Terence,” said trainer Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis speaking to YSM Sports Media, predicting that Terence Crawford would win over Bakhram Murtazaliev, the IBF junior middleweight champion, if it were to be a fight.
“I think Terence can handle that guy. I know he could have hit her. Terence’s style. He can punch, punch and move. Remember, Tim Tszyu was right in front of him, going straight for him. Terence will not go like that.”
Omaha, Nebraska native Crawford showed in his debut at 154 against Israel Madrimov on August 3rd that he is not the same fighter at this weight class as he was last time. Everything is different now for Crawford, who is a junior middleweight, facing these young killers. He doesn’t have the power in his punches in this weight class that he had in the other three classes, and he’s getting old.
Crawford looked like a 40-year-old against Madrimov, eating right hands like candy. He didn’t get out of the way one right hand in that fight and it looked like he got hit by a train at the end of the fight. Crawford’s face was swollen and marked.
“Terence will be moving his head, using the jab, using different angles, and stopping him. Terence would have a chance to stop him. I’ll bet I’ll go some distance. Terence was going to break him. “Terence is really smart,” said Bozy.
Bozy backs up his opinions on Crawford with his 147, 140, and 135 fight wins over the years. That happened a long time ago against weaker, smaller, and less talented fighters than Murtazaliev. Furthermore, Crawford, 37, is no spring chicken at this stage of his 16-year career. He’s also hurt his game by fighting only once a year for the last four years starting in 2020, and that has a lot to do with the money he’s made.
Crawford was getting hit hard by right hands in his fight with Israel Madrimov, and it didn’t matter that he was moving his head. He was playing decent hands all fight, and was lucky to get a decision. If Madrimov had been busy and had the same left hook that Bakhram has in his arsenal, he would have beaten Crawford.
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