Tszyu!

That name strikes fear among mere mortals.

For three decades and more the Tszyus have burned and pillaged the hopes and dreams of the best fighters since the 1990s.

Now it’s Tim Tszyu’s turn.

Australia’s Tszyu (24-1, 17 Kos) faces IBF super welterweight titlist Bakhram Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 Kos) on Saturday Oct. 19, at Caribe Royale Orlando at Orlando, Florida. Amazon Prime will stream the TGB Promotions card.

“I’m a young kid living his dream. It’s a big honor for me,” said Tszyu the son of the great Kostya Tszyu.

The last time out Tszyu’s plans to scorch the earth were stymied by a head clash with Sebastian Fundora back in March. It’s the only pimple on his record. It also wrestled the WBO title from him and the WBC belt too.

That’s boxing.

Now facing Tsyzu is Russia’s Murtazaliev a tough customer from Grozny located near Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea.

Murtazaliev, 31, hasn’t encountered any of the elite fighters so far. But he hasn’t been fed the bottom feeders either. The opposition he’s faced have been the gate-keepers that most avoid. Those step children of the super welterweight division that can make a protected fighter fall flat on his face.

Not that Tszyu has been protected, but he’s on the fast track.

The Aussie slugger came to America with thoughts of grandeur like a Mongolian invader saw Asia in the 12^th century. Sometimes the littlest things can topple the egg cart.

Tszyu, 29, will have his neck in a noose with Murtazaliev ready to tighten it when they meet in Florida, just weeks after a slew of hurricanes. This will not be an easy fight.

“This is a vengeance fight. It’s for a world title,” said Tszyu at the press conference on Thursday. “One by one, I’m going to get rid of each (world titlist) and every one of them.”

The Australian challenger acknowledges that Murtazaliev is not an easy foe.

Murtazaliev has few words but a hungry look to retain his place in the super welterweight top of the heap.

“We’re going to have a good bout,” was all the words Murtazaliev uttered.

The TGB Promotions boxing card is available on Amazon Prime. Free for subscribers. Those wishing to subscribe can apply and get the streaming network for 30 days free.

Autumn in New York

Aside from the Major League Baseball playoffs taking place in the Bronx and Queens, a boxing event interrupts in the middle of the week.

Female IBF bantamweight titlist Miyo Yoshida (17-4) defends the title against Shurretta Metcalf (13-4-1) on Wednesday Oct. 23, at the Theater in Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. ProBoxTV will stream the DiBella Entertainment fight card.

It’s a rematch between Yoshida and Metcalf who fought a year ago with the Texan winning their initial encounter.

Golden Boy in Indio, Calif.

Manny “Gucci” Flores (18-1, 14 Kos) faces Victor Olivo (21-4-1, 9 Kos) in the main event on Thursday Oct. 24, at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, CALIF. DAZN will stream the Golden Boys Promotion fight card.

Flores is based in nearby Coachella and has been a fan favorite at Fantasy Springs Casino.

Others on the card are undefeated fighters Grant Flores, Cayden Griffith and Gael Cabrera.

For more information go to www.GoldenBoy.com.

San Jacinto – Battle of the I.E.

A large fight card called “Battle of the I.E.” featuring bantamweights to light heavyweights takes place at Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, Calif. on Friday Oct. 25.

I.E. stands for Inland Empire, which is the area east of Los Angeles County and has become the hot bed for boxing in areas like Riverside, San Bernardino, Indio and San Jacinto.

Soboba Casino has long been a bastion for boxing since the late 1990s and has seen fighters like Israel Vazquez, Jorge Arce, and Mia St. John in historic bouts.

For more information call (1-866) 476-2622.

360 Promotions in Commerce, Ca.

Featherweight hotshot Omar Trinidad (16-0-1, 13 Kos) meets Hector Sosa (17-2, 9 Kos) in the main event on Saturday Oct. 26, at Commerce Casino, in Commerce, Calif. The 360 Promotions fight card will be streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

Sosa has the IBO featherweight title after defeating Keenan Carbajal this past June.

It’s a loaded fight card and includes undefeated Lupe Medina in tough against Katherine Lindenmuth in a minimumweight fight.

For more information including tickets go to www.360Promotions.us.

Fights to Watch

(All times Pacific Time)

Sat. Amazon Prime 5 p.m. Tim Tszyu (24-1) vs Bakhram Murtazaliev (22-0).

Photo Credit: Al Applerose

Japan’s budding superstar Junto Nakatani knocked out Petch Chitpattana in a battle of southpaws to retain the WBC bantamweight world title on Monday in Tokyo.

It was the first time the rugged Thai fighter was ever stopped.

“This was not my first time knocking out that kind of opponent,” Nakatani said.

The three-division world champion Nakatani (29-0, 22 KOs) became the first fighter to knock out Chitpattana (76-2, 53 KOs) and performed the feat in front of a large Japanese audience at Ariake Arena in Japan. It was also his third consecutive knockout as a bantamweight.

“I’m happy about it,” Nakatani said.

The left-handed boxer-puncher expected to be in a firefight from the Thai fighter who had 78 pro fights of experience.

“He was a strong opponent,” said the champion.

During the first three rounds, Nakatani merely probed Chitpattana’s defense and style of fighting. Though he throttled the Thai boxer with a lead left cross in the first two rounds he did not commit until the fourth round.

Then things got interesting.

Chitpattana, who also goes by the name Tasana Salapat, opened up his attack in the fourth round with blistering body shots and short combinations. Both fighters freely exchanged body shots and blows to the head. As if measuring who was tougher.

In the fifth round the furious exchanges continued with both fighters connecting with right hooks. Nakatani began concentrating with uppercuts to the chin as Chitpattana belted the Japanese fighter’s body. Both fighters looked to hurt the other and jabs were a memory. Only power shots were fired by both.

Now it was total war.

The challenger was eager to see who was tougher and determined it was now or never. Both exchanged with abandon in the sixth round with Nakatani firing three and four-punch combinations. It was one of these combinations that saw the Japanese star deliver Chitpattana to the canvas for a count of eight. He got up and fired back looking to score his own knockdown. Nakatani measured his challenger carefully and unleashed a three-punch combination that violently sent Chitpattana reeling. The referee quickly stopped the fight.

Nakatani was declared the winner by technical knockout. The official time of the stoppage was 2:59 of round six.

“Please keep an eye on me,” said Nakatani to the crowd and those watching on international television.

Other Bouts

South Africa’s Phumelele Cafu (11-0-3) floored four-division world titlist Kosei Tanaka (20-2) and out-fought the WBO super fly champion to become the new champion by split-decision.

“Its something I always dreamed about,” said Cafu.

It was quickly evident that Cafu was able to easily land the left hook. But after several rounds of connecting with the left, it was a right-hand counter that dropped Tanaka for an eight-count in the fifth round.

Tanaka rallied furiously with body shots and volume punching. But he could not avoid the power shots coming from the South African fighter who had never fought outside of his country. After 12 rounds one judge scored it 114-113 for Tanaka but two other judges saw it 114-113 for Cafu.

WBO flyweight titlist Anthony Olascuaga and former WBO light flyweight titlist Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez accidentally clashed heads in the first round and a cut over the eye of the challenger forced the fight to be stopped at 2:25 of the opening round. It was ruled a No Decision.

Former kickboxing champion turned boxer Tenshin Nasukawa (5-0) defeated Gerwin Asilo (9-1) handily to win a regional bantamweight title after 10 rounds by unanimous decision.

Nasukawa, a southpaw, showed off his quick hands and floored Filipino fighter Asilo in the ninth round. It was a battle between quick counter-punchers, but it was Nasukawa’s power that seemed to intimidate Asilo. After 10 rounds the scores were 98-91 twice and 97-92 for Nasukawa.

Nasukawa is known by American fans for fighting an exhibition with Floyd Mayweather.

Sunday in Japan

Seiya Tsutsumi (12-0-2, 8 KOs) upset Takuma Inoue to win the WBA bantamweight world title by unanimous decision. Tsutsumi scored a knockdown of Inoue and won by scores 117-110, 115-112, 114-113.

Kenshiro Teraji (24-1, 15 KOs) knocked out Cristofer Rosales (37-7) to win the vacant WBC flyweight world title at six seconds of the 11^th round. He moved up in weight after a lengthy hold of the WBC light flyweight title.

Shokichi Iwata (14-1, 11 KOs) knocked out Spain’s Jairo Noriega (14-1) at the end of the third round to win the WBO light flyweight world title.

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For the first time in the history of the 175-pound class, all four meaningful belts were on the line when Artur Beterbiev locked horns with Dmitry Bivol today at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. When the smoke cleared, Beterbiev prevailed on a majority decision, adding Bivol’s WBA and lineal title to his own collection of belts to emerge as the undisputed light heavyweight champion.

This was a classic confrontation between a boxer and a puncher. Beterbiev had won all 20 of his pro fights inside the distance. Bivol was also undefeated but had scored only nine stoppages among his 23 wins and nine of his 10 previous fights had gone the full 12 rounds. As an amateur, Beterbiev had lost twice to Oleksandr Usyk, the second of those setbacks in the quarterfinal round of the 2012 London Olympics, and it was no surprise that the 33-year-old Bivol, the younger man by six years, went to post a small favorite.

This proved to be a tactical fight that was a disappointment when measured against the pre-fight hype. Neither man was ever in jeopardy of going down and at the conclusion both acknowledged they could have done better.

In the first two rounds, Bivol was credited with out-landing Beterbiev 26-10. But the template was set. Although Bivol landed more punches in the early-going, one could see that Beterbiev was stronger and that his straight-line pressure would likely pay dividends over his opponent who burned up more energy moving side-to-side.

Beterbiev showed no ill effects from the torn meniscus that forced him to withdraw from the originally scheduled date (June 1). At the conclusion, two of the judges favored him (116-112, 115-113) and the other had it a draw (114-114).

IBF Cruiserweight Title Fight

Australian southpaw Jai Opetaia, widely regarded as the best cruiserweight on the planet, took charge in the opening round and wore down Jack Massey whose trainer Joe Gallagher wisely pulled him out at the two-minute mark of the sixth round.

Opetaia, who repeated his win over Maris Briedis in his previous bout, sending the talented Latvian off into retirement, improved to 26-0 (20 KOs) in what was his third straight appearance in this ring. A 31-year-old Englishman, Massey lost for the third time in 25 pro starts.

Opetaia’s next fight is expected to come against the winner of the forthcoming match between Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez and Chris Billam-Smith. They risk their respective belts next month on a Golden Boy Promotions card here in Riyadh.

Other Bouts of Note

The bout between heavyweights Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke was the semi-wind-up. It was a rematch of their March 31 tussle in London. At the end of that bruising 12-round barnburner, Wardley was more marked-up but remained undefeated and retained his British title when the judges returned a draw. Clarke likewise skirted defeat after opening his pro career 8-0.

Today’s sequel was a brutal, one-sided fight that never saw a second bell. It was all over at the 2:22 mark of the opening round, dictating a long intermission before the featured attraction even though it would commence 15 minutes ahead of schedule, going off at 3 pm PT.

Both men came out swinging but the Ipswich man, Wardley, had heavier ammunition. A big right hand left Clarke with a visible dent near his left ear. When the end came, Clarke, was slumped against the ropes, his eyes glazed and his jaw looking as if it may have been broken. (He was removed to a hospital where he was reportedly being treated for a fractured cheekbone.)

Wardley, who carried 242 pounds on his six-foot-five frame, never had a proper amateur career, but having knocked out 17 of his 19 opponents, he stands on the cusp of some big-money fights. “I’d be shocked if he’s not fighting for a world title next year,” said his promoter Frank Warren.

In a battle between two 35-year-old middleweights, Chris Eubank Jr advanced to 34-3 (25 KOs) with a seventh-round stoppage of Poland’s Kamil Szeremeta (25-3-2). A 25/1 favorite, Eubank had his Polish adversary on the canvas four times before the bout was halted at the 1:50 mark of the seventh frame. The match played out in a manner mindful of Szeremeta’s bout with Gennady Golovkin in 2020, another bad night at the office for the overmatched Pole.

The knockdowns came in rounds one, six, and twice in round seven. The final knockdowns were the result of body punches. Szeremeta had his moments, but these were due largely to Eubank’s lapses in concentration; he was never really in any danger.

After Eubank had his hand raised, Conor Benn entered the ring and confronted him. The sons of British boxing luminaries were initially set to fight on Oct. 8, 2022. That match, expected to draw a full house to London’s 20,000-seat O2 Arena, was shipwrecked by the British Boxing Board of Control. Benn’s antics in Riyadh are an indication that it may yet come to fruition.

In a 10-round contest, Skye Nicolson outclassed Raven Chapman, winning by scores of 99-91 and 98-92 twice. The Aussie was making her fourth start of 2024 and the third defense of her WBC featherweight title.

Nicolson, who improved to 12-0 (1), hopes that her next title defense is in Australia where she has fought only once since turning pro, that back in 2022, but she would gladly put that on the backburner for a date with Amanda Serrano. It was the first pro loss for Chapman (9-1), a 30-year-old Englishwoman.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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