BOXING NEWS 24

John Murray

Crolla defeats Murray in 10th round TKO

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crolla1By Scott Gilfoid: #6 WBO lightweight contender Anthony Crolla (28-4-1, 11 KO’s) defeated a badly gassed out John Murray (33-3, 20 KO’s) by a 10th round TKO on Saturday night at the Phones 4u Arena in Manchester, UK. Crolla knocked down a badly bruised up Murray with a left hook to the head in the 10th round. A stumbling Murray got back up, and he was hit with a brief burst of punches from Crolla.

The referee then stepped in and halted the fight with Murray still on his feet but looking tired and hurt. Murray’s conditioning and defense betrayed him in this fight because this was a winnable fight for him.

Murray looks to take Crolla’s scalp tonight

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murray34By Scott Gilfoid: Lightweight John Murray (33-2, 20 KO’s) will be looking to score a knockout tonight against the light-hitting Anthony Crolla (27-4-1, 10 KO’s) to add his scalp to his growing collection at the Phones 4u Arena in Manchester, UK. Murray plans on knocking Crolla out in order to make sure he gets his hand raised tonight. Murray doesn’t want to wind up losing a controversial decision if the fight goes to the scorecards.

The outcome of this fight has huge ramifications, as they’re likely to face former WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns next in a nice payday fight in Glasgow, Scotland. Murray vs. Burns would be a great contest, because Burns looks like he’s on his last legs at this point in his career and Murray could be the one that sends him packing.

Crolla will be trying to jab his way to a win tonight, and I suspect we’re going to see a lot of movement from him like we did in his rematch against Derry Mathews. If Murray is on his job he’ll make sure that he cuts off the ring on Crolla to force him to fight for a full three minutes of every round instead of just a small fraction.

Murray vs. Crolla weigh-in

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murray34By Scott Gilfoid: #6 WBO lightweight contender Anthony Crolla (27-4-1, 10 KO’s) successfully weighed in on Friday for his clash tomorrow night against the tough slugger John Murray (33-2, 20 KO’s) at the Phones 4u Arena in Manchester, UK. Crolla, 27, weighed in under 9st 8lbs and 11oz. Murray weighed 9st 8lbs 12oz.

Crolla will have his WBO Inter-Continental lightweight strap on the line for the fight, but much more than that will be on the line. If Crolla gets beaten by the 29-year-old Murray on Saturday, then you can expect to see Crolla find himself knocked out of the top 15, especially if Murray gives him a bad beating. I do expect that Crolla is going to take a royal pounding in this fight, but the only question is does he get knocked out or does he make it to the final bell and possibly win a controversial decision.

Ricky Burns likely to face Crolla-Murray winner on June 27th in Glasgow

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burns5635By Scott Gilfoid: Former two division world champion Ricky Burns (36-3-1, 11 KO’s) will be returning to the ring in the summer on June 27th in a fight that will take place in his native Scotland, in Glasgow. Burns is rumored to be facing the winner of the April 19th fight between lightweight contenders John Murray (33-2, 20 KO’s) and Anthony Crolla (27-4-1, 10 KO’s).

Having Burns fight either of those guys gives him a good chance of picking up a win, but it’s not likely to change anything in terms of improving him and getting him ready to face the champions in the division to try and recapture a world title. At 30, Burns is the finished product, and he’s not young enough to improve off of wins over fringe contenders or gate keepers.

John Murray vs. Anthony Crolla on 4/19 at Manchester Arena

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murray34By Scott Gilfoid: Former EBU lightweight champion John Murray (33-2, 20 KO’s) will get to test his power shots on the light-hitting #5 WBO Anthony Crolla (27-4-1, 10 KO’s) next month on April 19th at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, UK. Crolla, a pure finesse fighter with a number of controversial decisions in the last year, is going to be in for a world of hurt in this fight.

Crolla arguably should have lost his rematch against Derry Mathews last year in March, and after that Crollas was given another gift with his 12 round majority decision win over Gavin Rees last year in June in a fight that I had Rees winning easily by 4 rounds. With Crolla getting gift after gift in his fights, I have a feeling that Murray might have to knock him out cold in order to get the win and turn the three judges into helpless spectators in the fight.

The good thing that Murray has going for him is his power. He’s capable of bringing his own judges with him on April 19th so that we that there won’t be another controversial decision involving Crolla. Believe me, if Crolla wins this fight, he’s going to have to knock Murray out, because if he’s still there by the 6th round, Crolla is likely to be punch drunk and on his way to getting blasted out.

John Murray vs. Anthony Crolla possible for April 19th at Manchester Arena

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murray555By Scott Gilfoid: Matchroom sport promoter Eddie Hearn is interested in putting together a fight between John Murray (33-2, 20 KO’s) and Anthony Crolla (27-4-1, 10 KO’s) on April 19th at the Manchester Arena, in Manchester, UK. Murray and Hearn both want the fight, and it looks like Crolla is up for it as well. Murray destroyed John Simpson by a 2nd round TKO last Saturday night on the Ricky Burns vs. Terence Crawford fight card at the Scottish Exhibition Centre, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom.

“I’m really up for a fight fight, and Anthony Crolla on April 19th is the one that’s offered,” Murray said to Sky Sports. “I think I’m the more powerful man, and I’ll win and win by stoppage.”

John Murray wants rematch with Kevin Mitchell

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mitchell4554By Scott Gilfoid: Former EBU lightweight champion John Murray (31-2, 18 KO’s) is hoping to get a rematch against Kevin Mitchell to try and avenge an 8th round TKO defeat he suffered against him two years ago in July 2011.

Murray was pretty well dominated in that fight, but he still wants a chance for revenge. Murray also was beaten in his only fight since then, losing to former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios by an 11th round TKO in December 2011.

Murray, 28, has been out of the ring since then after an irregularity showed up in a brain scan. However, his brain is now all clear for the problem that he had, and he wants to face the 28-year-old Mitchell again if possible.

Rees vs. Murray off; Rees-Abril possible for early 2013

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Image: Rees vs. Murray off; Rees-Abril possible for early 2013By Scott Gilfoid: The December 8th fight between Gavin Rees (37-1-1, 18 KO’s) vs. John Murray (31-2, 18 KO’s) has been canceled due to the 27-year-old Murray failing his medical exam. That’s a real bummer, I guess, because it would have been a slightly interesting bout to go along with the main event on that card between Carson Jones and Lee Purdy at the Olympia, Kensington, London, United Kingdom.

Rees will now focus on looking to get a bigger fight in 2013 against the likes of Richard Abril.

Fury: I’ll fight Haye in a minute; Rees-Murray added to Jones-Purdy card

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Image: Fury: I'll fight Haye in a minute; Rees-Murray added to Jones-Purdy cardBy Scott Gilfoid: Apparently not satisfied with having a full plate on his hands with his proposed battle against unbeaten #3 WBC heavyweight contender Denis Boytsov, Tyson Fury (19-0, 14 KO’s) is now once again targeting former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye and saying he’d take a fight with him if he could get it. He can’t, so Fury should pipe down.

Fury said to the Zootoday.com “David Haye is another sh++house…I’ll take Vitli’s [Klitschko] place and I’ll fight him [Haye] in a minute…He went 12 rounds with Wladimir Klitschko and didn’t even throw a punch.”

Barker vs. Hope on December 8th; Rees vs. Murray possible

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Image: Barker vs. Hope on December 8th; Rees vs. Murray possibleBy Scott Gilfoid: Former middleweight contender Darren Barker (23-1, 14 KO’s) will be facing the recently knocked out light hitting middleweight contender Kerry Hope (17-4, 1 KO’s) on December 8th on the undercard of the Carson Jones vs. Lee Purdy fight at the Olympia, Kensington, London, United Kingdom. The 30-year-old Barker hasn’t fought since last November in being stopped in the 11th round by Sergio Martinez last year in November and Barker now has completely slipped from the world rankings due to the time away from the ring. Barker fought passively in the Martinez fight and put in a text example of how not to fight when you’re challenging the world’s best middleweight. Barker was in survival mode the entire fight, and wasted his time by taking the fight.

Hope, 31, is coming off of an 8th round TKO loss to Grzegorz Proksa last July in a fight where Hope was little more than a weak hitting punching bag for eight rounds for Proksa. However, Hope is still ranked #7 IBF in the middleweight division for some reason despite the loss, but that’ll probably change after December 8th if Barker isn’t too rusty to fight.