Martin Murray: I’m a level above Bursak

By Boxing News - 06/18/2014 - Comments

murray555555(Photo credit: GoldenGlovesSA) By Scott Gilfoid: A drained looking Martin Murray (27-1-1, 12 KO’s) spoke the obvious when he said this about his opponent for Saturday Max Bursak (29-2-1, 12 KO’s), “We are both in great shape, but I’m a level above Bursak and I will show that.” It kind of goes without saying that Murray is a level above Bursak, but it also reflects on Murray that he’s still fighting guys like Bursak after having failed on two attempts to capture a world title at 160.

Murray, #2 WBC, #3 IBF, #13 WBO, will be facing #8 WBA Bursak this Saturday, June 21st at the Casino de Monte Carlo Salle Medecin, Monte Carlo, Monaco. A win for the 31-year-old Murray will either lead to additional tune-ups for possibly against one of the 160-pound world champions.

If Murray does challenge for a world title, it’s not likely to be against WBA champion Gennady Golovkin, because he’s looking for bigger fights against the likes of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Carl Froch.

Murray would have been a good opponent for Golovkin last year when he was still facing guys like Nobuhiro Ishida and Gabriel Rosado. But now Golovkin has advanced to the bigger names and once he gets passed Daniel Geale next month, we’re going to see Golovkin looking to face the stars.

Murray needs to look good against Bursak, because he really struggled badly against Sergey Khomitsky in winning an 8 round decision last December. That fight for all practical purposes was a draw, as Murray failed to prove that he was better than the 39-year-old Khomitsky. That was a disappointing performance for Murray, because he showed the same lack of punch output that he displayed in his loss to former WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez last year. Murray was covering up much of the time instead of letting his hands ago, and he made the 39-year-old look like a world champion instead of an older guy.

At this point Murray needs to target IBF middleweight champion Sam Soliman, because that’s probably the easiest fight that can be made, provided that Murray gets passed Bursak on Saturday. As bad as Murray looked against Martinez and Khomitsky, I’m not ready to assume anything with him. He covers up well with his clam shell defense, but he just doesn’t throw punches for some reason. But he might be able to get a fight against Soliman in 2015 or so, but I doubt he’ll get the middleweight champions Golovkin, Miguel Cotto or Peter Quillin to fight him because American fans have no clue who Murray is, and a fight against him probably won’t bring in good ratings on Showtime or HBO.

As drained Murray looked today, I wonder how much he’ll weigh on Saturday night after he rehydrates. He’s someone that should move up in weight to super middleweight, because it looks like he’s outgrown the middleweight division.



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