By Scott Gilfoid: WBA interim middleweight champion Martin Murray (25-1-1, 11 KO’s) is off of this Saturday’s Carl Froch vs. George Groves card due to Murray coming down with a virus. In Murray’s place will be #7 WBC, #12 WBA, #14 WBO, Andy Lee (30-2, 21 KO’s) facing an opponent still to be determined.
Given that Lee’s opponent still hasn’t been picked out, you can bet that it’s going to be a less than stellar fighter. Murray was supposed to be fighting 2nd tier fighter Sergey Khomitsky, which was going to be a terrible mismatch, so there’s not much change with Lee on the card in what will likely be a mismatch as well.
Lee, 29, has won his last two fights since getting stopped in the 7th round by former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. last year in June in El Pasco, Texas. That was the fight where Lee’s former trainer Emanuel Steward had been trying to get Lee to move more and box because he was taking vicious punishment from Chavez Jr., but instead Lee chose to slug it out and his poor tactics led to him getting stopped.
In Lee’s first fight coming off that loss, he struggled in beating 2nd tier fighter Anthony Fitzgerald in winning a 10 round points decision last February. That fight shouldn’t have been a close affair for Lee, but it turned out to be a very tough fight where Lee took a lot of punishment. In his last fight, Lee wiped out Daryl Cunningham in one round last May.
Saturday will be Lee’s third straight tune-up bout and I’m not sure if it’s really worth anything for Lee to be taking that many tune-ups at this point in his career. I mean, I couldn’t understand maybe 1-2 tune-ups, but certainly not three. That’s a waste of time when you’re as old as Lee, because he can’t burn up years of his career fighting tune-ups. That’s all Lee has to show for 2013 is a three tune-up bouts, and given the short amount of time each fighter has in a career, it makes no sense for Lee to be spinning his wheels.
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