Jermell Charlo vs. Bakhram Murtazaliev - IBF Mandatory Ordered

[Ruthless-RKO]

Jermell Charlo-Bakhram Murtazaliev Mandatory Title Fight Ordered By IBF

The quest for an undisputed champion in the junior middleweight division has hit its second snag in less than a week.

The International Boxing Federation (IBF) has ordered a mandatory title fight between its reigning champion Jermell Charlo and number-one contender Bakhram Murtazaliev. The fight was formally ordered on Wednesday, as confirmed to Boxing Scene by the New Jersey-based sanctioning body.

The two sides will have 30 days to negotiate terms to avoid a purse bid hearing. Charlo fights under the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) banner and is represented by TGB Promotions in negotiations; Murtazaliev is represented by Main Events and manager Egis Klimas.

Houston’s Charlo (34-1-1, 18 KOs) inherited the mandatory title defense following his eighth-round knockout of Jeison ‘Banana’ Rosario in their three-belt unification clash last September 26 on Showtime Pay-Per-View from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Charlo entered the bout as the two-time and reigning WBC titlist, defending that belt while claiming Rosario’s IBF and WBA titles along with recognition as the division’s lineal champion.

He also left with an overdue mandatory title defense. Rosario had to file an exception in order to move forward with the unification bout, while Charlo had to do the same in order to proceed with his four-belt showdown with WBO titlist Brian Castaño (17-0-1, 12 KOs) on July 17 at AT&T Center in San Antonio.

The thrilling twelve-round affair ended in a split decision draw. Judge Nelson Vazquez (117-111) had Charlo winning a wide decision in a scorecard that drew heavy scorn. Steve Weisfeld (114-113) ruled in favor of Castano, while Tim Cheatham (114-114) saw the action dead even in producing the stalemate and with the bout failing to produce the first-ever undisputed junior middleweight champion in the four-belt era.

Overwhelming demand has called for an immediate rematch, to which both Charlo and Castaño are receptive. Such a bout would again have to come with the cooperation of Murtazaliev, who has already accepted two step-aside offers to all the aforementioned unification bouts to first take place.

Russia’s Murtazaliev (19-0, 14 KOs) became the mandatory challenger following a twelve-round, unanimous decision victory over Jorge Fortea in their November 2019 title eliminator at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The bout served in supporting capacity to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s eleventh-round knockout of Sergey Kovalev to win the WBO light heavyweight title.

Two fights have since followed for Murtazaliev, both coming on the undercard of Showtime-branded events headlined by Charlo. The 28-year-old from Grozny, Russia scored a fourth-round stoppage of journeyman Manny Woods on the non-televised undercard of Charlo-Rosario last September, and outpointed Khiary Gray over eight rounds off camera preceding Charlo-Castaño this past Saturday at AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.

Both undercard slots came as per terms worked out with Murtazaliev’s team. Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events told BS.com senior writer/columnist Keith Idec post-fight of the desire to secure the unbeaten boxer’s due title fight, as he is next in the rotation of mandatory challenger.

The fresh round of negotiations will determine whether that fight first takes place, or if another deal can be reached to allow Charlo and Castaño one more crack at crowning a four-belt king.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Don’t mind the mandatory, but after this there will be another.. and we may never see a rematch.

[DrDuke]

Well, if Charlo fights Murta, while Castano fights Tszyu, so that the winners fight for all 4 belts, it'll be fine. But, anyway, f*cking IBF again came with their mandatory not in time.

[maverick23]

Don’t mind the mandatory, but after this there will be another.. and we may never see a rematch.

Disagree re: the mandatory. Who’s he beat to deserve the mandatory position? His best win is arguably the guy who Fowler wiped out inside of 3 rounds.

[Bandog]

Sigh of relief for Mell I'm guessing.

[jujigatame]

Hopefully Charlo tells the IBF to get fucked.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Bakhram Murtazaliev waiting on Jermell Charlo to see if he’ll take the fight or vacate IBF belt

Bakhram Murtazaliev and his promoter Kathy Duva are waiting to find out if Jermell Charlo will vacate his IBF 154-lb title or agree to fight him following the International Boxing Federation has ordered the two to fight last week.

The timing of the IBF ordering Charlo to defend against mandatory Murtazaliev challenger isn’t ideal, but that’s the way it is. Jermell, 31, and his management at PBC need to decide whether they want to take this fight or vacate.

Giving up the IBF title would signal defeat on Jermell’s part, as he was hoping to become the undisputed 154-lb champion in 2021.

Jermell (34-1-1, 18 KOs) has until August 20th to negotiate the fight with his IBF mandatory Bakhram Murtazaliev (19-0, 14 KOs) before a purse bid on August 20th.

IBF/WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Charlo wants to face WBO champ, Brian Castano in a rematch after the two fought to a controversial 12 round split draw on July 17th in San Antonio, Texas.

Castano (17-0-2, 12 KOs) looked like the winner at the end, but the judges surprisingly scored the fight a draw.

Given how much flak the judges have been given from the boxing world, particularly the one that shockingly scored it 117-111 for Jermell, they would have been better off giving the victory to Castano.

“The IBF USBA boxing has ordered Twin Charlo to begin negotiations with mandatory challenger Bakhram Murtazaliev effective July 21. The negotiation period ends on Aug. 20,” said Lance Pugmire @pugboxing.

“From Murtazaliev promoter Kathy Duva on these mandatory talks with TGB’s Tom Brown: “We have agreed on all terms for them to fight each other later this year. All we are waiting for is for PBC to tell us if Charlo plans to defend his title or give it up instead of defending it.”

It’s a big decision Jermell must make by choosing whether to give up his IBF title or take the fight with the little-known Murtazaliev.

The problem is if Jermell does choose to fight Murtazaliev, he’ll likely lose money because right now, there’s a lot of interest from boxing fans in seeing a rematch with WBO champion Castano.

Jermell must strike while the iron is still hot to take advantage of the fan interest in a rematch with the Argentinian Castano. If Jermell fights Castano in the next three to four months, he can make good money on Showtime or FOX pay-per-view.

But if he chooses to defend his IBF belt against Murtazaliev next, it means he won’t fight Castano again until next year in 2022. That fewer fans will be as excited at seeing the two fight at that point because too much time will have elapsed since their July 17th fight.

Another problem that Jermell has is the WBO will be ordering Castano to defend against Tim Tszyu before the end of the year. That’s a fight that Castano might lose.

If he gets beaten, the rematch between him and Charlo won’t be worth much. Jermell and PBC won’t be able to market a rematch with Castano, with him coming off a loss to Tszyu.

[margaret thatcher]

i thought unification got precedence over mandatories

they could also pay this guy step aside i guess too

[Ruthless-RKO]

i thought unification got precedence over mandatories

they could also pay this guy step aside i guess too

Not if the IBF have anything to say about it.

They stripped Fury when he opted to rematch Wlad instead of fighting Glazkov.

[Onetimeonly]

Charlo/castrano 2 on ppv? Lmao

[Ruthless-RKO]

Charlo/castrano 2 on ppv? Lmao

Boxingnews24 have some crap writers tbh.

[Onetimeonly]

Charlo/castrano 2 on ppv? Lmao

Boxingnews24 have some crap writers tbh.

No money in writing about boxing, but you'd think anyone could understand basic stuff. Made me laugh.

[ldlamb]

This fight ain’t happening….I’ll believe it when I see it.

[Onetimeonly]

This fight ain’t happening….I’ll believe it when I see it.

Be surprising, but the ibf will definitely strip him.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Jermell Charlo must defend against Bakhram Murtazaliev next



Dan Rafael has a copy of a document that Jermell (35-1-1, 19 KOs) earlier this year, stating that he would defend against his unbeaten IBF mandatory challenger Bakhram Murtazaliev (20-0, 15 KOs) next if he successfully got past WBO champion Brian Castano in their rematch.

Rafael’s copy of the document Jermell Charlo signed promising to face IBF mandatory Bakhram Murtazaliev.

The logical question is, how could Jermell not be aware that he’d already signed to face Murtazaliev next, and couldn’t fight Tszyu until after that.

It’s unclear whether Jermell will take the fight with the 29-year-old Murtazaliev, who currently resides in Oxnard, California, or if he’ll vacate his IBF strap and take the match against Tim Tszyu next.

[DrDuke]

F*ck them, the Tszyu matchup is better.

[apollo creed]

Mell may move up at 160.

[Bandog]

If WBO mandates someone first, doesnt the IBF have to wait until that happens, or doesn't it work like that?

[Ruthless-RKO]

If WBO mandates someone first, doesnt the IBF have to wait until that happens, or doesn't it work like that?

A few years back, the four orgs agreed to take turns in ordering mandatory’s for boxers who held multiple world title.

Recently WBA went back on that with Josh Taylor after WBC we’re supposedly next in line for a mandatory.

But according to this, the IBF mandatory has been waiting 2 years, and they feel they’re next in line.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Forgot to add a poll to this.

Vote up.

[apollo creed]

I doubt Mell will fight these unknown mandos.

He'll probably move up. He's a big dude.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Murtazaliev: “Charlo, Tszyu Scared To Fight With Me; Winner Is Gonna Vacate IBF Title”

“Both of them are scared to fight with me,” Murtazaliev told Boxing Scene. “The winner is gonna vacate the IBF title.”

“Within six, seven, eight rounds max,” Murtazaliev said, “Charlo will knock Tszyu out with a straight right.”

“I would prefer to fight Charlo, of course,” Murtazaliev said. “If that were to happen, there would be four titles on the line, instead of just one title to fight someone else. Charlo would be ideal.”

“I feel they made a mistake because when I became the mandatory I was [27] years old and I didn’t have much experience,” Murtazaliev said. “Now, I’m [almost] 30 years old. I have a lot of experience. And for them, it will be very, very hard. Every year and every fight I am getting better.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

Long overdue mando now due..

[apollo creed]

I think Mell is gonna vacate some of his belts. He made lots of money from the Canelo fight.

[Ruthless-RKO]

November 21st Purse bids.

They didn’t even bother ordering purse bids for Crawford-Boots..

Not like we even getting Bud-Spence in December.