Bakhram Murtazaliev took a shot at Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis for choosing to take a fight against the obscure Uisma Lima earlier this month, on October 11th, rather than challenging him for his IBF junior middleweight title.
Viewed by many boxing fans as the ‘boogeyman’ of the 154-lb division, the unbeaten Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) pointed out in an interview that no one was familiar with Ennis’ opponent, Angola-born Lima (14-2, 10 KOs). He says that Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs) would have fought him if he’d been interested.
“He Fought a Nobody”
“If Ennis wanted to fight me, he wouldn’t have fought who he just fought. No one knows who [Uisma Lima] was,” said Bakhram Murtazaliev to The Ring, criticizing Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis for taking a soft fight against Uisma Lima in his debut at 154 rather than challenging him for his IBF junior middleweight title.
“He would have fought me if he wanted to fight, not Lima,” said Murtazaliev.
Ennis’ Excuse Parade
Ennis was making excuses today in an interview on the AH Show, saying that they’d reached out to Serhii Bohachuk and Israil Madrimov, but neither took the fight. He says only Uisma Lima agreed. It sounded bad listening to ‘Boots’, justifying his choice of Lima.
In the interview with AH, ‘Boots’ didn’t mention Bakhram at all. That suggests there was never any interest on Ennis’ part from the start, reinforcing the view that he lacks assertiveness and isn’t a risk-taker. He’s just taking easy fights, ensuring that he keeps winning, and getting the nice paydays in low-risk contests.
The Final Word: Ennis Is Protecting His Zero
There’s nothing wrong with Ennis’ soft approach to his career. It just means he knows his limitations as a fighter and doesn’t want to step out of his comfort zone. He’s got a good thing going right now, raking in millions, fighting the likes of Lima, Karen Chukhadzhian, and Eimantas Stanionis.
Why would he want to mess that up by facing Bakhram and have him do to him what he did to Tim Tszyu on October 19, 2024? The Russian boogeyman Murtazaliev knocked out Tszyu in three rounds, dropping him four times in a fight that resembled a classic massacre.