(Photo credit: Will Hart) By Scott Gilfoid: While WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (31-0, 28 KOs) was taking it easy today during his press conference to promote his fight on Saturday night, his opponent Martin Murray (29-1-1, 12 KOs) was working hard to intimidate Golovkin and show the fans in attendance that he’s not just going to be the sacrificial lamb coming over from the UK to be slaughtered by Golovkin on Saturday, February 21st in Monte Carlo.
Murray may end up getting smashed to bits by Golovkin, but he’s not going to let him see him sweat before they get to that point by showing fear.
“Gennady Golovkin is one of the best fighters in the world, but this Saturday I will beat him,” Murray said. “I’ve done everything I need to beat him, this is the hardest fight of my life but I’m ready for it.”
Murray talks a good game, but he doesn’t have the power to really carry out the things he says. I mean, Murray won’t be able to cover up and beat Golovkin by nailing him with a pot shot every now and then.
The only way Murray wins this fight is if he’s willing to stand in front of Golovkin and let his hands go in an all-out war. If Murray covers up for too long, he’s going to get knocked out because Golovkin will find a hole in his armor and take him out quickly.
It’s obviously difficult for Murray to understand what he’s in for on Saturday night because the best opposition he’s been in with was a shot Sergio Martinez and Felix Sturm. Both of those guys were old and nothing like they were earlier in their careers. Murray got them when they were old, and in the case of Martinez, when he was badly injured.
Some boxing fans might reason that Murray’s outward aggression is a sign of fear from the 32-year-old fighter. When you get a guy who insists that he’s not afraid, it could be a case of that fighter being very, very afraid of what he’s about to face. You can’t blame Murray if he is worried about what he’s about to face on Saturday night, because Golovkin is after all the best middleweight in the 160 pound division right now.
Murray isn’t a young guy at 32, so if he loses the fight by a knockout, like many boxing fans think he will, then his career could effectively be finished off. A knockout loss for Murray will likely send his career skittering downwards to where it’ll likely take him another two to three years for him to get back in position for another world title shot.
It took Murray two years to get another world title shot after his last defeat to WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez in 2013. If this same timeline holds for Murray’s next title shot, we’re probably looking at him being 34 or 35 by the time he gets another shot.
I don’t know if that’s realistic because unless he fights the same soft opposition that he fought in order to get the title shot against Golovkin, Murray could taste defeat again.
If he’s forced to fight one of the talented middleweights in the division like Tureano Johnson, I can definitely see Murray losing to him, even now. I rate Johnson and Curtis Stevens as better fighters than Murray.
“Welcome to my fight,” Golovkin said to the media in a way that showed that he has no doubts about what the outcome will be on Saturday night. “Martin Murray is a great fighter, he looks strong here today. He is the biggest test of my career. I promise a great fight on Saturday night and a big drama show.”