Bakhram Murtazaliev heard Jaron Ennis and Eddie Hearn mention him Saturday night as a potential opponent on his way to becoming undisputed junior middleweight champion.

Murtazaliev would gladly fight Ennis if the former Ring, IBF and WBA welterweight champ doesn’t face rival Vergil Ortiz next. The idle IBF junior middleweight champion is cynical, though, regarding the legitimacy of Ennis’ interest in facing him.

Ennis’ decision to fight overmatched Uisma Lima in the Philadelphia native’s division debut makes Murtazaliev doubt his intentions. DraftKings listed Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs) as a 30-1 favorite versus Angola’s Lima (14-2, 10 KOs), who was knocked down twice and stopped a mere 1:58 into the opening round of their bout for the WBA "interim" junior middleweight title at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.

“If Ennis wanted to fight me, he wouldn’t have fought who he just fought,” Murtazaliev told The Ring. “No one knows who [Lima] was. But he would’ve fought me if he wanted to fight, not [Lima].”

“He was the IBF champion in a lower weight class and he moved up. I could’ve fought him. If he wants to fight me or Ortiz, why pick [Lima]?”

Ennis, 28, is generally regarded as one of the most gifted, multidimensional boxers in the sport. He has been criticized, however circumstantial some choices of opponents might’ve been, for facing lesser fighters than frustrated fans and skeptical experts want to see Ennis face.

Murtazaliev, 32, is beyond frustrated because he hasn’t fought in almost one year since he overwhelmed heavily favored former WBO champ Tim Tszyu last October in Orlando, Florida. Tszyu (25-3, 18 KOs) was a 7-1 favorite, yet Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) sent him to the canvas four times and stopped him in the third round.

Proposed fights with numerous championship-caliber opponents, including Ortiz, haven’t materialized since Murtazaliev demolished Tszyu.

The Russian-born champion could defend his title against England’s Josh Kelly next, but their teams haven’t finalized a deal with the third-ranked Kelly (17-1-1, 9 KOs). The IBF scheduled a purse bid for Tuesday if their representatives can’t come to an agreement before then.

Ennis is ranked fifth by the IBF in the junior middleweight division. The top two spots in its top 15 are unoccupied, but Murtazaliev doesn’t think it’ll matter even if Ennis becomes his mandatory challenger.

“Everybody mentions me after they fight,” Murtazaliev said. “[Sebastian] Fundora did, too. But then, when it comes to business, everybody disappears.”

The Ring junior middleweight title is vacant.

Ortiz (23-0, 21 KOs) is ranked first among The Ring's top 10 contenders at 154. Fundora (23-1-1, 15 KOs) is second and Murtazaliev is fourth. Fifth-ranked Erickson Lubin (27-2, 19 KOs) will challenge Ortiz for his WBC interim super welterweight title November 8 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

Ennis entered our junior middleweight top 10 at No. 7 this week. Though a Ring champion prior to moving up seven pounds, the ratings panel determined Ennis shouldn’t be higher than seventh due to the level of opponent he fought Saturday night.