Russian boxer Murtazaliev won the vacant IBF junior middleweight world title

Russian boxer Bahram Murtazaliev won the vacant world champion title in junior middleweight (up to 69.9 kg) according to the International Boxing Federation (IBF). In the fight for the vacant title, Murtazaliev, who had been waiting for his chance for a long time and agreed to fight at an inconvenient time for himself, at the end of Ramadan, won in Falkensee (Germany) against the famous German fighter Jack Kulkay. The match, which was distinguished by exceptional entertainment, ended with a chopping in the 11th round, which resulted in a knockout for Kulkay.

Circumstances helped 31-year-old Bakhram Murtazaliev win the championship title. Until recently, all four belts in his category belonged to American superstar Jermell Charlo, a boxer with such stature that he was essentially allowed to choose his opponents, regardless of formalities. And he avoided Murtazaliev, who had earned the rank of contender in the hierarchy of the International Boxing Federation quite a long time ago. As well as Australian Tim Tszyu, who stood in the unofficial queue for a meeting with the absolute champion ahead of the Russian. But last year, Charlo made a feint that, it seems, finally really angered the functionaries. Having ignored the almost agreed upon fight with Tszyu, the American jumped to super middleweight (up to 76.2 kg) for the sake of an expensive match against American Saul Alvarez, to whom he lost. And since Charlo made it clear that he was no longer too interested in what was happening in his “native” weight, all four controlling structures in boxing unanimously deprived him of his titles. The IBF title was the last one to be played again. The World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) belts now belong to the American Sebastian Fundora, who defeated Tszyu, and the World Boxing Association (WBA) belt belongs to the Uzbek fighter Israil Madrimov, who defeated the Russian Magomed Kurbanov.

At the same time, there is, of course, nothing crazy about the rise of Bakhram Murtazaliev. Before the German fight, his manager Egis Klimas, as if wanting to convince everyone who still had doubts, recounted the details of Murtazaliev’s biography. In order to improve his level, at some point he began to train in the USA, working with such celebrities as Sergey Kovalev and Vasily Lomachenko. I never ran away from anyone.

He defeated one after another the opponents who stood in his way, including quite good ones, amassing an excellent track record consisting entirely of wins, of which there are already 22. He demonstrated balanced boxing: there is a place for both toughness and subtlety in it.

Well, context adds value to what just happened.

Actually, in terms of timing, the moment to fight for the title seemed terribly inconvenient for Bakhram Murtazaliev.

Firstly, he had a long break in his career – he has not entered the ring since December 2022. In such situations, an “intermediate” fight is desirable.

Secondly, the German promoters who organized the match scheduled it for a date that, in terms of preparation, couldn’t be worse: Ramadan is ending, and Murtazaliev is a Muslim. And that means I had to train, observing many strict restrictions that did not fit with maintaining ideal shape.

And the opponent in Falkensee, a Berlin suburb, was incredibly seasoned. Jack Culcay is 38 years old, he had half a dozen top fights, and in the last decade he even held the WBA championship belt, albeit briefly, until he gave it to the American Demetrius Andreid.

But Bakhram Murtazaliev did not refuse the chance and, together with Kulkay, gave a performance that, according to, for example, Fightnews.com, should definitely be included in the short list of contenders for the most spectacular fight of the year. Everything about him was in perfect order with every significant component. The density was through the roof, and the plot intrigued with interesting twists. At first, the advantage of Murtazaliev, who gained first of all with speed, was too noticeable. Then, closer to the middle of the fight, Kulkai popped in and began making up for lost time with dangerous hits. After that, the Russian picked up the pace again.

The denouement was spectacular.

In the 11th round, both boxers looked exhausted from the chopping to the limit, barely standing on their feet, but did not stop shooting.

Kulkay, who later admitted that he felt he was behind (Murtazaliev actually led on two out of three maps), decided to take a chance. Towards the end of the round, he caught the Russian with his left, tried to add a powerful right hand from the side – and found himself in a trap. Murtazaliev, as it turned out, had everything figured out. He punished the failed opponent with a classic left hook, and a moment later, having already floated, he sent him to the floor. Kulkay barely got to his feet, but it was clear that he no longer had any prospects of continuing the fight normally.

Alexey Dospehov