By Scott Gilfoid: #1 WBC, #3 IBF middleweight contender Martin Murray (29-1-1, 12 KOs) has twice fought for world titles in the past three years, and twice he’s come up empty.
In two months from now, Murray, 32, will be getting a third shot at a world title against arguably the best fighter in the 160 pound division in WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (31-0, 28 KOs).
You can make a strong argument that Murray has done zero to deserve another title shot. I mean, he was beaten by an injured former WBC champion Sergio Martinez last year in April in a fight where Murray played it safe for 12 rounds by hiding behind his clam-shell guard instead of being proactive and trying to win the fight by letting his hands go. Since that fight, Murray has beaten Sergey Khomitsky by a controversial decision, Ishmael Tetteh, Max Bursak and Domenico Spada.
None of the wins were against anyone that you can remotely call good middleweights, yet here Murray is poised to get a third world title shot. In Murray’s last fight, he defeated 34-year-old Italian Spada by an unimpressive 7th round stoppage last October.
The Golovkin-Murray fight will take place on February 21st at the Salle des etoiles, in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The Golovkin vs. Murray fight will be televised on HBO Championship Boxing in the United States.
For Murray to have any chance in this fight, he’s going to have to let his hands go. In other words, he can’t hide behind his clam-shell guard all night long like he did against Sergio Martinez and Felix Sturm. If Murray chooses to hind his guard, Golovkin is going to tear his body apart and knock him out with a body shot.
Murray was fortunate that Martinez and Sturm were head hunters, because if they had directed their punches down stairs towards Murray’s unprotected midsection, they would have likely knocked him out. Golovkin isn’t going to make the same mistakes that Martinez and Sturm did.
He’s going to go after Murray’s body and force him to either drop his guard or take his body shots. Since Golovkin hits like a ton of bricks, I don’t expect Murray to be able to take more than 3-4 rounds of body shots before he drops for the 10 count.
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