IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev called out WBC and WBO 154-lb champion Sebastian Fundora for a unification fight following his fourth-round technical knockout victory over Chordale Booker last Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Murtzaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) posted on X, congratulating ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora (22-1-1, 14 KOs) for his victory over Booker (23-2, 11 KOs), saying, “I’m ready!” It would be a great fight for the fans if Sebastian were willing to take this risky fight.
Undisputed Goal
At the post-fight press conference last night, he said that his goal is to become undisputed champion at 154. If Fundora wasn’t just using hollow words to sound brave, taking Bakhram up on his offer would be great for the fans.
It’s unlikely that Fundora and his promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz, will agree to fight Murtazaliev because he’s dangerous and not someone with whom he could stand and brawl as he did against the light-hitting Booker last night.
Fighting like that against Murtazaliev will get Fundora knocked out quickly, perhaps in less than three rounds. That’s how long it took Bakhram to dispose of former WBO 154-lb champion Tim Tszyu on October 19th last year in Orlando, Florida. Tszyu tried to slug with Murtazaliev and dropped four times in a third-round knockout loss.
Fundora would have to change his fighting style to have a chance of defeating Bakhram. He won’t be victorious by battling him in the trenches, using the same approach that worked for him against Booker and Tszyu.
Congratulations Fundora, great performance. I’m ready!
— Bakhram Murtazaliev (@bakhram95) March 23, 2025
Zayas or Murtazaliev?
Murtazaliev would be a good option for Fundora if he wants a way to swerve his WBO-mandated challenger, Xander Zayas. He can go the unification route; there’s no way the WBO could strip him. However, I don’t know why Fundora would avoid a weak puncher like Zayas, who is on the level of Booker power-wise but with more slickness, in favor of taking a risky fight against Bakhram. That move wouldn’t make sense.
Fundora said last week that he’s interested in renewing talks for a fight against Errol Spence if he still wants to fight him. That’s a far bigger money fight for than defending against the little-known 22-year-old Xander.
Last Updated on 03/23/2025
Read the full article here