There was a little bit of everything on the cards Saturday evening.

There were impressive victories, some shocking results and withdrawals.

As the boxing roadshow packs its bags and begins its first fight card at Manchester’s Co-op Arena, there are plenty of reasons to wonder about the future of yesterday’s fighters.

checks who might be next among the winners and losers.

Bakhram Murtazaliev and Tim Tszyu

The super welterweight division was thrust into the spotlight after Murtazaliev defended his IBF title in emphatic fashion. Most would expect a thrilling fight, but few would predict the champion winning in the third round.

What’s next?

At the post-fight press conference, Murtazaliev mentioned unification fights, which resulted in Sebastian Fundora and Terence Crawford joining the conversation. However, the Russian may have to wait until next spring/summer for this to happen. In the meantime, it must build on its momentum and return in the first quarter of 2025. Defending the title against someone like Erickson Lubin (3rd IBF challenger) makes sense. As for Tszyu, reconstruction and rethinking are necessary.

Adam Azim and Ohara Davies

Azim appeared at Boxxer’s main event last night. The undefeated super lightweight broke Davies and stopped his fighter, which looks better than going the distance.

What’s next?

The calls for Azim’s next fight will be between Dalton Smith and Harlem Eubank. Earlier this week, Azim talked about returning in December and then February. Smith will fight in December and Eubank on October 25. If Azim returns before the end of the year, it will not be a step back from Davies. One option could be Jose Zepeda, who defeated Ivan Redkach in September but lost to Smith in March. Maybe a chance for a better job? Sandor Martin or Sergey Lipinets are notable alternatives. Davies should follow his suggestion in his post-fight interview and retire.

William Scull and Vladimir Shishkin

It’s been several years since anyone other than Canelo Alvarez has been the super middleweight champion of the world. On Saturday night, William Scull became the newest 168-pound champion after defeating Vladimir Shishkin in Germany to win the vacant IBF belt.

What’s next?

Christian Mbilli will become the number one contender for the IBF organization next month, so it can be expected that his promoter Top Rank will be pushing demanding for this fight. Shishkin was not outclassed against Scull and will come again. Someone like Zach Parker and his promoter Frank Warren should see Shishkin as an early 2025 opponent.

TIM TSZYU is looking to bounce back from a bloody defeat to Sebastian Fundora in March and was immediately given the opportunity to win the world title again, but standing in his way is undefeated IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev.

Both have a combined record of 46-1, of which 33 victories came in the distance – but which victory in each competitor’s CV is the best? We take a look at their top three.

TIM TSZYU THREE BEST WINS

3. Jeff Horn, 26/08/2020, Townsville – TKO 9

It could easily be considered a victory in which Tszyu, who was 15-0 at the time, truly announced himself as the next dominant force in Australian boxing by defeating and brutally stopping Jeff Horn.

Horn, of course, etched his name into the country’s boxing folklore by defeating all-time great Manny Pacquiao for the welterweight title three years earlier. However, he had no answer to Tszyu’s attack at 154 pounds. Horn trailed in innings three and seven before failing to come out in the ninth. “I just want everyone to know this,” he said later. “My name is Tim, not Kostya’s son.”

2. Carlos Ocampo, 18/06/2023, Broadbeach – TKO 1

With a 35-2 record, Carlos Ocampo was seen as something of a step up for Tszyu, who would face some recent challenges at the hands of the experienced Mexican.

However, he made fun of the pre-fight predictions by steamrolling Ocampo in just 72 seconds against the knockout of the year contender. First, he dropped him with a gigantic right hand, which Ocampo only just managed to recover from.

However, the recovery was short-lived as Tszyu attacked him and brutally ended the fight with a left hook, leaving Ocampo left icy on the bottom rope.

1. Brian Mendoza, 15/10/2023, Broadbeach – UD 12

It wasn’t the pop, bang, bang present in many of Tszyu’s stoppage victories, but in his first defense of his WBO welterweight title, the Australian boxed brilliantly en route to a clear defeat over Brian Mendoza.

For many, it was the No. 1 against the No. 2 in the division, and Mendoza entered the fight on the back of knockout victories over Jeison Rosario and Sebastian Fundora. However, Tszyu neutralized this strength and dominated the second half of the fight, winning by scores of 117-111, 116-111 and 116-112.

BAKHRAM MURTAZALIEV THREE BEST WINS

3. Fernando Carcamo, 4/8/2018, Atlantic City – TKO 1

After finishing his first two 10-round fights in the fifth round, Fernando Carcamo (then 23-8) was expected to offer a similar level of resistance to the Russian punch. Murtazaliev, however, had a different idea and stopped it in just 41 seconds.

It was the fastest break in his career. Murtazaliev took advantage of the early pressure and staggered Carcamo with a keen left hook that sent him sliding back towards the ropes.

Clearly in no mood to move on to the second round, Murtazaliev stepped up and eventually dropped his opponent with a right hand for the first and last time. He stood up at the count of 10, and referee Eddie Claudio immediately waved his hand.

2. Jorge Fortea, 11/02/2019, Las Vegas – UD 12

It wasn’t the most explosive performance of Murtazaliev’s career, but it was an eliminator against a good opponent from Fortea, who did well to spoil a lot of the Russian’s work.

Still, Murtazaliev showed diligence and patience, outworking the Spaniard and landing cleaner, stronger shots throughout the match, securing a unanimous decision in his first 12-round match.

Lisa Giampa gave him a 120-108 victory, while Tim Cheatham (119-109) and Steve Weisfeld (118-110) came a little closer to victory at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

1. Jack Culcay, April 6, 2024, Falkensee – TKO 11

The victory over Fortea was supposed to be an eliminator for the world title fight, but Murtazaliev, although he remained undefeated, had to wait until April this year to finally fight for the belt.

Murtazaliev surrendered the home advantage to his opponent in what was by far the best win of his career to date as he traveled to Germany to face Jack Culcay. By the time they reached the 11th card, he had the advantage in two of the three cards, but he was in no mood to leave it in the judges’ hands and instead called it quits at 2:50.

Murtazaliev hurt Culcay repeatedly in the 11th round and it was remarkable that he was still on his feet with 10 seconds left in the round, but thanks to one final, crushing right hand, Culcay went down and lost, and Murtazliev was crowned the recent IBF 154-pound champion .

LAST week in Riyad, Saudi Arabia, was supposed to be the highlight of Ben Shalom’s career.

With Fight of the Year likely at the top of the list, Shalom managed to dominate the undercard with his fighters. Furthermore, he also worked with fellow promotional rivals Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren, despite previously struggling to establish a working relationship with them.

What could go wrong?

It all started at the weigh-in between Chris Eubank Jr. and Kamil Szeremeta when Ben Shalom and Frank Warren appeared to have a falling out. Ironically, similar events had occurred between Shalom and his other rival, Eddie Hearn, on the Riyadh Season Wembley Edition card three weeks earlier.

Nevertheless, Shalom is used to it; he repeatedly emphasized that his priority was fighters, not any amiable relations with enemies.

Significant damage occurred on the night of the fight.

Firstly, internet sensation Ben Whittaker was expected to claim victory over Liam Cameron. However, the fight ended unexpectedly after a bizarre ending to the fifth round when both fighters went over the top rope, leaving Whittaker with an apparent ankle injury and unable to continue.

The fight ended in a controversial draw after a technical decision, leaving Whittaker’s opponent, Cameron, feeling aggrieved and convinced that he had won. Not only did Whittaker’s performance raise questions, but the way the fight ended left many questioning the fighter’s heart.

Shalom’s night briefly improved when Chris Eubank Jr lightly hit Kamil Szeremeta, knocking his fighter down four times before forcing a stoppage in the seventh round. Conor Benn then stormed into the ring, coming face to face with his rival – which was hilariously supervised by Neymar.

Jai Opetaia was another man who admitted defeat to one of Shalom’s warriors. He completely dominated Jack Massey, forcing Massey to take him out of the corner in the sixth round.

The worst moment of the night for Shalom came during the co-main event. The highly anticipated rematch between Frazer Clark and Fabio Wardley was expected to mirror the 12-round war they fought in March.

Despite this, the fight ended brutally when Wardley knocked out Clarke in the first round. Shalom didn’t even get a chance to watch the main event as he drove to the hospital with Clarke.

It has now been confirmed that Clarke suffered multiple facial fractures.

Regardless of the different fight results, the re-teaming of Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren may have resulted in some form of relationship between the British promoters.

Like the Night of Shalom, there still doesn’t seem to be one, or if there was one, the situation has gotten worse.

In an interview with , Eddie Hearn said: “The bet is that we’re all working together, but not quite yet.”

Moreover, during the media rounds, Frank Warren referred to Boxxer and Ben Shalom as “a nightmare to deal with.”

However, a defiant Shalom repeated in his interviews: “We (Boxxer) will continue to try to work with the promoters. We will continue to try to fight the best fights we can. We are really reasonable people.”

While just performing on a card the size of last Saturday’s was a huge moment for the youthful British promoter, it ultimately wasn’t a good week for him and he may have to endure a complex few weeks as he prepares to work with future rivals again.

Boxxer and Shalom return tonight when youthful prospect Adam Azim takes on the experienced Ohara Davies in a super lightweight fight at the Copper Box Arena in London.