Ukrainian wants to meet with Bahram Murtazaliev
Sergey Bogachuk, Getty Images
Promoter Tom Loeffler said that former WBC interim world champion in the light middleweight division, Ukrainian Serhiy Bogachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) continues to want to meet IBF champion Bahram Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs), and the upcoming fight against US representative Michael Fox (24-4, 5 KOs) is another step towards the championship fight.
“We want to keep Sergey active and we'll continue to look for big fights after this [Fox fight]. He's a guy who wants to fight everyone. We want him to get into a world title fight as soon as possible.”
“Yeah, absolutely [Murtazaliev is being considered]. It's a terrific, mandatory, Fight of the Year type fight. Both guys are huge punchers and strong guys. They're warriors. And they're both ready to fight each other. Sergey has agreed to fight Bahram, and I understand Bahram has agreed to fight him. It's just a matter of finding a venue or a show to put it on. It would be a terrific fight on a Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford show.”
It was announced today that Bogachuk and Fox will face off on May 17. The fight will headline the 360 Promotions show on UFC Fight Pass at Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, California.
Earlier, the WBC announced that Bogachuk should meet the winner of the fight between current interim champion Vergil Ortiz (23-0, 21 KOs) and Israil Madrimov (10-2-1, 7 KOs) from Uzbekistan. Subsequently, the best in this confrontation can lay claim to the WBC light middleweight title, which is held by Sebastian Fundora (21-1-1, 14 KOs). In February, Ortiz defeated Madrimov by unanimous decision.
Let us recall that Bogachuk lost to Ortiz in August 2024. The fight was equal and as close as possible, the Ukrainian knocked his opponent down twice. However, the referee's decision was in favor of the local boxer: one referee counted it as a draw in his notes (113:113), and the other two gave a minimal advantage to Ortiz (114:112, 114:112).
In his last fight, Bogachuk won by technical knockout over Briton Ishmael Davis (13-2, 6 KO). The fight took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the undercard of a rematch between WBC, IBO, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 14 KO) and former WBC title holder Tyson Fury (34-2-1, 24 KO).
Fox (nicknamed “The Professor”) won two victories in 2024. Before that, the American suffered three defeats in a row: from 2020 to 2022, Michael lost to Luke Santamaria, Gabriel Maestra and Egidijus Kavaliauskas.