If you didn’t know who Bakhram Murtazaliev was prior to his three-round demolition of Tim Tszyu this past Saturday, you sure as hell do now. 

Add the 31-year-old from Russia to the list of Eastern European junior middleweights who clearly aren’t here to pad the records of bigger-name opponents. Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs), who made the first defense of the IBF title he won in April, refuses to follow the scripts put forth by fans, media and odds makers – just like Uzbekistan’s Israil Madrimov and Ukraine’s Serhii Bohachuk. These guys are here to kick ass.

And unlike Madrimov, who ran Terence Crawford close in a UD loss on August 3, and Bohachuk, who had to settle for a majority decision after 12-round war with Vergil Ortiz Jr. one week later, Murtazliev did not leave the outcome of his fight in the hands of the official judges. 

The rangy, 6-foot tall boxer-puncher dropped the heavily favored Tszyu (24-2, 17 KOs) four times in less than nine minutes of one-sided action.

Bakhram Murtazaliev pulled off a surprise stopping Tim Tszyu in four. (Photo by Joseph Correa-Premier Boxing Champions)

“Murtazuliev made a real statement stopping Tszyu in three rounds,” said Anson Wainwright. “I thought Murtaziliev was live, but wow! Still very impressive! Murtazuliev to No. 3 and Tszyu to drop to No. 7.”

Nobody on the Ring Ratings Panel disagreed with Wainwright’s junior middleweight suggestions.  

The panel did, however, disagree with Wainwright’s suggestions for super middleweight, where previously unrated William Scull entered the rankings at No. 6 following his close unanimous decision over Vladimir Shishkin in his adopted home country of Germany.

Wainwright suggested that Shishkin (16-1, 10 KOs) drop to No. 8. The panel noted that Scull (23-0, 9 KOs), a 32-year-old Cuban now based in Berlin, and the 33-year-old Russian should be side by side in the rankings given the close nature of their 12-round bout (which was for the IBF title stripped from unified Ring champion Canelo Alvarez).

“Scull and Shishkin should be No. 6 and No. 7,” said Adam Abramowitz. “That fight was a coin flip as to who won. Most I saw had Shishkin winning.”

Tris Dixon, Abraham Gonzalez, Tom Gray, Jake Donovan, Michael Montero and Diego Morilla agreed with Abramowitz.

William Scull (left) lands a jab during his unanimous decision win over Vladimir Shishkin in their Oct. 19 vacant IBF super middleweight title fight in Falkansee, Germany.
Photo credit: Torsten Helmke, AGON Sports

Wainwright also proposed dropping Leigh Wood, who hit the one-year inactivity mark earlier this month, from the featherweight rankings.

“Wood has been inactive for one year and while he has talked about fighting, nothing has come of it yet,” said Wainwright. “We could take him out, move everyone up and bring in Bruce Carrington at No. 10. Or we could give Wood until Carrington-[Dana] Coolwell (takes place next month) and if he hasn’t got something scheduled make the switch then? I’m cool either way. I think maybe we wait but I understand it is a year for Wood.”

Replied Abramowitz: “Time to take Wood out.”

Added Gray: “I hate taking Leigh out at 126, but he is one year inactive and has no intention of returning to this division. He called out [Anthony] Cacace in early October, so 130 is in his future. Comeback and results depending, he can be re-ranked at junior lightweight.”

Added Donovan: “We’ve pushed back on Carrington enough to where he can finally enter. Wood 100% has to come out this week, he was never fighting again at 126 even if [the Josh] Warrington rematch panned out. Not to mention [Raymond] Ford will be exiting in three weeks and Veneno [Luis Alberto Lopez] once his team makes an official decision on his future.”

The rest of the panel agreed with Abramowitz and Donovan.

Leigh Wood, here celebrating his victory over Josh Warrington, exits the 126-lb. top 10 after 168 weeks in the rankings. Photo by Mark Robinson / Matchroom Boxing

Wood (28-3, 17 KOs), a two-time WBA titleholder who holds wins over Warrington, Mauricio Lara, Xu Can, and Michael Conlan (in The Ring’s 2022 Fight of the Year), had been in the featherweight rankings for 168 weeks. 

RING RATINGS UPDATE (as of October 19):

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT – Anthony Yarde remains No. 4 following a 10-round decision over Ralfs Vilcans.

SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT – Scull enters at No. 6.  Shishkin drops to No. 7. 

JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHT – Murtazaliev advances to No. 3. Tszyu drops to No. 7. 

JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHT – Albert Batrygaziev remains No. 10 following a four-round stoppage of Albert Pagara.

FEATHERWEIGHT – Wood exits due to inactivity. Carrington (13-0, 8 KOs) enters at No. 10. 

Email Fischer at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter and IG at @dougiefischer, and join him, Tom Loeffler, Coach Schwartz and friends via Tom’s or Doug’s IG Live most Sundays.

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