By Scott Gilfoid: #15 WBC Martin Murray (32-2-1, 15 KOs) will be getting his 4th world title shot in his last 12 fights when he faces WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (43-4, 29 KOs) next month on November 21st at the Tui Arena, in Hannover, Germany.
Murray, 33, hasn’t won a world title yet, but he keeps getting chances. It’s very reminiscent of the way that Matthew Macklin kept getting world title shots despite his many failures. Murray can’t afford to fail this time because there’s no telling whether he’ll be able to get another gift opportunity given to him like this. I mean, it was just this year that Murray was knocked out in the 11th round by IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.
Just why Abraham’s promoters at Sauerland Events chose to match him against then recently beaten Murray is unknown. Murray has fought only three times since his loss to Golovkin this year in beating these three obscure fighters: George Beroshvili, Mizet Bajrektarevic and Jose Miguel Torres.
Murray doesn’t have much in the way of punching power, and I don’t know how he’s going to be able to compete in this fight. This could be even more of a mismatch than Murray’s last fight against Golovkin was.
Abraham isn’t as powerful or as talented as Golovkin, but he doesn’t need to be in order to beat Murray. All he needs to do is sit down on his punches the way that he normally does, and he’ll be able to KO Murray in short order.
For Abraham, this is his third fight against an Eddie Hearn fighter in his last four fights. Abraham recently fought Hearn fighter Paul Smith twice in voluntary defenses in 2014 and earlier this year in February 2015. Now Abraham is fighting another voluntary defense against Murray.
This is Abraham’s fifth world title defense, which is hard to believe because many boxing fans figured that he wouldn’t be able to hold onto his WBO title for more than one fight after he captured the title in March of 2014 with a 12 round split decision win over Robert Stieglitz last year in March 2014.
“I’m delighted to deliver this shot for Martin. It’s a fight Martin and his team have been asking me for since he signed with us and the opportunity that I believe will see him realize his dream of becoming world champion,” Hearn said via ESPN.com.
I’m just wondering what Hearn will do with Murray if he gets whipped by Abraham. I mean, what can he do with him after yet another loss. Abraham is considered to be the weak link among the super middleweight champions right.
If Murray can’t even beat him, then what use will he have for Hearn? Other than using him for domestic level fights, I can’t see Murray having any value for Hearn. Frankly, I can’t see Murray ever winning a world title. He’s 33 now, and there aren’t any soft jobs at 168 for him to win a paper title. Murray would probably be better off moving back down to 160, and asking Hearn to match him up against WBO 160lb champion Andy Lee. I just don’t know that Murray will still be a top 15 contender after he loses to Abraham.
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