Talks are underway for a fight between IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev and Vergil Ortiz Jr. The negotiations are still ongoing, but they’re “not close” on the financial side of the discussions.
Financial Gap
Dan Rafael broke the news on the Murtazaliev-Ortiz Jr. negotiations. He says that the money on Golden Boy Promotions/Vergil Ortiz Jr. side isn’t close. It’s not surprising because Ortiz Jr. (23-0, 21 KOs) is the better known fighter of the two.
If the fight gets made, it’ll be interesting to see what approach Vergil Jr. takes because Murtzaliev is dangerous with either hand, and he’s not someone that he can be walked down the way Ortiz Jr. tends to fight.
Bakhram (23-0, 17 KOs) has gotten the attention of fans with his third round knockout win over former WBO 154-lb champion Tim Tszyu on October 19th last year at the Caribe Royal in Orlando, Florida. Murtazaiev dropped Tszyu three times in the second and once in the third to get the knockout.
Vergil Jr. had been calling out champions Sebastian Fundora and Terence Crawford recently but with no luck. The realistic option for him is Murtazaliev, and it’s brave that he’s taking this patch. It’s the only choice, but there’s no guarantee that Fundora or Crawford will ever fight him.
Ortiz Jr, 26, is coming off a twelve-round unanimous decision win over former WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitty Bivol 2 on February 22nd in Riyadh. Vergil Jr. beat Madrimov in a more impressive manner than Terence Crawford had last summer on August 3rd.
Ortiz Jr. used pressure to wear down Madrimov and dominate him in the second half of the contest. That approach is going to be risky for Vergil Jr. to use against Murtazaliev because he’s not going to move around the way Madrimov did. He’ll stand and fight.
In Vergil’s fight before that, he defeated WBC interim 154-lb champion Serhii Bohachuk by a 12-round majority decision on August 10th. That fight was a lot closer for Ortiz Jr. than his victory over Madrimov. Still, he clearly won both fights, but took a lot of punishment in the contests.
Last Updated on 03/10/2025
