Murray vs. Crolla weigh-in

By Boxing News - 04/18/2014 - Comments

murray34By Scott Gilfoid: #6 WBO lightweight contender Anthony Crolla (27-4-1, 10 KO’s) successfully weighed in on Friday for his clash tomorrow night against the tough slugger John Murray (33-2, 20 KO’s) at the Phones 4u Arena in Manchester, UK. Crolla, 27, weighed in under 9st 8lbs and 11oz. Murray weighed 9st 8lbs 12oz.

Crolla will have his WBO Inter-Continental lightweight strap on the line for the fight, but much more than that will be on the line. If Crolla gets beaten by the 29-year-old Murray on Saturday, then you can expect to see Crolla find himself knocked out of the top 15, especially if Murray gives him a bad beating. I do expect that Crolla is going to take a royal pounding in this fight, but the only question is does he get knocked out or does he make it to the final bell and possibly win a controversial decision.

This is going to be a really tough fight for Crolla because he took a lot of punishment in his fights with Derry Mathews and Gavin Rees in the recent past. But now Crolla is going to be up against someone with even more power than those guys, and with an ability to go to the body. If Crolla thought he had it bad against Rees and Mathews, he’s going to find out quickly on Saturday night that he’s facing a much more powerful fighter in Murray.

Don’t be surprised if Murray steamrolls Crolla in the first 6 rounds with a furious body attack. Crolla hasn’t faced a body puncher like Murray, as most of the guys he’s fought have been pure head-hunters. Murray will be looking to test Crolla’s body by nailing him with liver shots, and it’s going to be interesting to see if Crolla can handle it without dropping to his knees on the canvas.

It’s going to be tough for Crolla to be able to hang with Murray in this fight for long, as Crolla is more of a finesse fighter and he doesn’t have the arsenal that Murray has going for him. It;s going to be pure defensive stuff from Crolla, and he’s not going to win a fight on the back foot. He’ll have to be able to stand and exchange with Murray to win, and I don’t see that happening. Murray will come out with guns blazing and put Crolla into a situation where he’ll need to fight to survive. Fighting isn’t something Crolla is good at. He’s more of a mover and jabber, and that won’t work against Murray.

Neither Crolla nor Murray are likely going to be challenging for a world title anytime soon. The lightweight division has improved dramatically in the last two years, and there’s not any easy marks for either of them to pick off to win a world title on the cheap. In other words, their fight on Saturday night might be as good as it gets for either of them. The winner of their clash could get a bout against the recently beaten Ricky Burns, but that’s not a big deal now that Burns no longer has his WBO lightweight title after suffering a loss against Terence Crawford.



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