Terence Crawford’s teammate, Steven Nelson, says IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev brings nothing more than his past opponents, and he rates former WBA 154-lb champ Israil Madrimov above him.
Nelson sees Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) has a “Basic style,” and he feels he’s just “tough.” He says Tim Tszyu lost because he “couldn’t weather the storm” against Murtazaliev last Saturday night in his third-round knockout loss in Orlando, Florida.
Nelson feels the 37-year-old Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) is a “different beast” than Murtazaliev. He explains why Crawford struggled so badly against the 11-fight pro Madrimov on August 3rd because of his “Herky-jerky” style. Crawford came close to losing to Madrimov. He was given a narrow 12-round unanimous decision in a fight that appeared to be either a draw or a win for Madrimov.
The fact that Crawford doesn’t want to fight Murtazaliev suggests to fans that he’s not confident that he could win the fight. It’s great that Nelson is willing to carry the water for Crawford, but the reality is he’s not willing to fight Murtazaliev. That’s an automatic loss for Crawford.
Fans feel that Crawford is afraid of Murtazaliev, and would lose to him if he had the courage to fight him in a unification contest.
“He doesn’t show anything different from the opponent’s Bud fought,” said Steven Nelson to Fighthype, talking about Bakhram Murtazaliev not bringing anything different than Terence Crawford’s past opponent.
Murtazaliev is entirely different than anyone Crawford has fought during his career. His style was nothing like Madrimov, who used a lot of feints against Crawford and only threw right hands. Murtazaliev punches with both hands and has a powerful left hook. The other Eastern European fighter Crawford fought during his 16-year career was Viktor Postol in 2016, but his style was different, too. Postol was skinny and tall, and more of a volume puncher than a slugger.
“The guy that Bud just fought, [Israil] Madrimov, he was a tough opponent becasue he presented something different, that herky-jerky style. It’s hard to pick that up because it’s so unpredictable. The guy that just fought Tim Tszyu has a basic style. He’s just tough,” said Nelson about Murtazaliev.
Madrimov was a very tough opponent for Crawford. He never figured out Madrimov, and was hit a lot in that fight. You could see age in Crawford, as he’d gotten old since his fight against Errol Spence in 2023. Moreover, his punching power didn’t carry up from the welterweight division to junior middleweight.
“Tszyu couldn’t weather that storm, but Bud’s a different beast. Bud is a different type of dude from being in camp with him,” said Nelson. “Not just in boxing. That’s how he is with everything. He’s super competitive, and he’s going to push it to the limit no matter what it is.”
Crawford is different than Tszyu, but he would still have many problems against Murtazaliev and would likely lose. He lacks the size, power, and aggressiveness to win against a fighter like Murtazaliev. Crawford’s best hope would be playing it safe, going the 12-round distance, and hoping the judges value his movement over the offense and power of Murtazaliev.
“I think Bud beat the best guys at 154,” said Nelson about Crawford’s win over Madrimov on August 3rd. “He [Madrimov] only had 11 fights. People use that to talk down on Bud. That dude had experience, and he was tough. Fighters from overseas are different and have more experience than a fighter from America that’s 10-0.
“What motivates him is making history and stamping himself in the Hall of Fame forever. Why is he worried about what the fans want? Right now, it’s about legacy,” said Nelson about Crawford.
