By Scott Gilfoid: WBA Super World middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (31-0, 28 KOs) sees his fight against #1 WBC Martin Murray (29-1-1, 12 KOs) as being a huge test for him and a very serious fight with a lot on the line when the two of them face each other next month on February 21st at the Salle des Étoiles, Monte Carlo, Monaco.

Golovkin needs to beat Murray, 32, in a convincing manner in order to move forward to his much desired pay-per-view bouts against Miguel Cotto, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Carl Froch. Murray needs a victory to keep his career afloat after failing twice in two previous world title fights against Sergio Martinez and Felix Sturm.

Murray was beaten by Martinez and held to a draw against Sturm. I had Murray losing to Sturm as well, as Murray spent too much time hiding behind his clam-shell guard to have a chance of winning.

“He’s a tough fighter. He’s a big guy. He’s a strong guy,” Golovkin said to Steve Kim of UCN. “This is not game. This is a very serious fight. It’s a big test for me and for us. He [Murray] had two tough fights against Sergio Martinez and Felix Sturm, both very close fights. I understand it’s a great fight and he understands it too. He’s a very strong guy,” Golovkin said.

I don’t see Murray being a tough fight for Golovkin. Instead, I think Murray will only be tough in terms of the punishment he withstands. He’s got a good chin and he covers up 99% of the time in survival mode.

It’s a known fact that when a fighter’s main goal is to keep from getting knocked out, they’re not likely to get stopped unless they’re in with a guy with huge power. In this case, it’s probably not going to help Murray any if he hides behind his clam-shell guard all night long like he did in the Martinez and Sturm fights.

The reason why it’s not going to help Murray is because Golovkin is also a great body puncher, and he’s going to redirect his shots downstairs to Murray’s midsection if he keeps his high guard up all night long like he did in the Martinez and Sturm fights.

I’d like to see Murray drop his guard and actually throw punches against Golovkin in order for boxing fans to see a real fight on 2/21. I mean, if Murray is going to lose the fight, it would be better for him to go out on his shield rather than going out with a whimper in getting blasted into oblivion from Golovkin’s fierce body punching, but I just don’t see it.

Murray is one of those fighters who don’t like to get hit, so he clams up when his opponents start throwing shots at him. The problem is Murray doesn’t come out of his clam-shell for prolonged periods of time, and that leaves him vulnerable to losing rounds.

Against Golovkin, it’s going to be a losing proposition for Murray if he doesn’t drop his guard and slug it out for the full three minutes for every round, because the Kazakhstan is going to take advantage of Murray’s sparring partner fighting style to drop him with body shots.

Once Murray is hurt, I can’t see him being able to survive for long against Golovkin. He’s too good of a finisher to let Murray make it out of the round once he smells blood in the water.