By Scott Gilfoid: This Saturday night #1 WBO Avtandil Khurtsidze (32-2-2, 21 KOs) will be mixing it up with #3 WBO Tommy Langford (18-0, 6 KOs) for the interim World Boxing Organization middleweight strap at the Leicester Arena in Leicester, England. The Khurtsidze-Langford fight will be televised on BoxNation in the UK.
By Scott Gilfoid: The moment of truth is upon us with Gabriel Rosado (23-10, 13 KOs) ready to give former 4 time world title challenger Martin Murray (34-4-1, 16 KOs) a royal whipping this Saturday night in their important all or nothing clash at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. Murray, 34, is trying to get yet another world title shot despite having failed miserably over and over again. Rosado’s goal for the fight is to smash Murray and snuff out his dream of winning a world title. Rosado will be the visiting fighter when he enters the lion’s den on Saturday night on April 22 at the Echo Arena.
By Scott Gilfoid: 4-time world title challenger Martin Murray (34-4-1, 16 KOs) says he’s going to war in his fight against middleweight Gabriel Rosado (23-10, 13 KOs) in their fight on April 22 at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. Murray believes that he still has a chance to win a world title at 160 when current IBF/IBO/WBC/WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin moves up to super middleweight. Golovkin is expected to move up to 168 after the end of the year, according to his trainer Abel Sanchez.
By Scott Gilfoid: Two time world title challenger Gabriel Rosado (23-10, 13 KOs) says he’s going to turn his next fight against former four time world title Martin Murray (34-4-, 16 KOs) into a war on April 22 at the Ercho Arena in Liverpool. The 34-year-old Murray keeps world title shots over and over despite losing pretty much every time. He’s hoping to get another crack at a world title. At his age, Murray is at the last chance saloon in facing the 31-year-old Rosado. If he loses, it could be the end of Murray’s boxing career.
By Scott Gilfoid: Former four-time world title challenger Martin Murray will be facing former two-time world title challenger Gabriel Rosado on April 22 at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. This is the big fight that Murray’s promoter Eddie Hearn has been talking about for a week now.
Murray won his last fight against the previously unbeaten fringe contender Nuhu Lawal by a 12 round unanimous decision on November 12 last year. It was a good win for Murray, but it wasn’t a victory over a top name.
By Eric Baldwin: Former four time world title challenger Martin Murray (34-4-1, 16 KOs) had to struggle hard to beat previously unbeaten middleweight replacement opponent Nuhu Lawal (23-1, 13 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision on Saturday night to win the vacant WBA Continental super middleweight title at the Salle des Étoiles, in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
By Scott Gilfoid: #13 WBC super middleweight contender Martin Murray (33-4-1, 16 KOs) will be inside the ring tonight against the potentially difficult replacement opponent Nuhu Lawal (23-0, 13 KOs) in a 12 round fight in Monte Carlo. Lawal wouldn’t be much of a problem for the talented contenders in the 168lb division, but for the 34-year-old Murray, he would be a bit of a headache.
One thing that makes me see this as an easy win for Murray was the way his promoter Eddie Hearn was going on about how good Lawal was, and how great of a replacement he was for Dmitry Chudinov, who pulled out of his fight with Murray. When I see Hearn getting excited about Lawal, it tells me that this is a sick mismatch tonight. But as bad Murray has looked lately, I don’t think you can count out anyone.
By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten highly rated #1 WBA heavyweight contender Luis “King Kong” Ortiz weighed in at 239.5 pounds during Friday’s weigh-in for his fight against the serviceable Malik Scott for Saturday’s fight on HBO World Boxing in Monte Carlo.
Malik (38-2-1, 13 KOs) weighed in at a heavy looking 246.4lbs. What was interesting about the two straightaway was that the 6’4” Malik appeared to be at least one inch taller than Ortiz, and clearly the heavier looking of the two. This suggests that the listed 6’4” height that Ortiz has isn’t legit. He looks no more than 6’3”. That’s not an issue for this fight, of course, because Malik is obviously not in the same class as Ortiz in terms of talent, boxing skills, power and experience, but it might be a problem in the future for the Cuban when he starts facing the giants in the heavyweight division.
By Scott Gilfoid: Former three time world title challenger Martin Murray (33-4-1, 16 KOs) may have dodged a loss for this Saturday night with the news of the hard hitting Dmitry Chudinov pulling out of his fight with him due to an illness. Murray, 34, will now be facing little known 34-year-old German based Nigerian fighter Nuhu Lawal (23-0, 13 KOs) in a 12 round fight for the vacant WBA Continental super middleweight title at the Salle des Etoiles in Monte Carlo.
While Lawal does possess an unbeaten record in his five-year pro career, he’s not beaten any quality opponents. They’ve been obscure fighters. You can argue that the best of the bunch is Soufiene Ouerghu (10-4, 6 KOs), a guy that beat super middleweight contender Dominik Britsch by an eight round decision in 2014. Britsch will be fighting former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. next month on December 10 in Monterrey, Mexico.
By Scott Gilfoid: Former three time world title challenger Martin Murray (33-4-1, 16 KOs) is arguably entering the last chance saloon this Saturday night in his fight against #3 WBA middleweight contender Dimitri Chudinov (19-1-2, 12 KOs) on the Luis Ortiz vs. Malik Scott card at the Salle des Etoilles, in Monte Carlo.
A loss for Murray against the hard hitting Chudinov would be bad news for his sinking boxing career. With three losses in his last seven fights, Murray’s once promising career is on the brink of implosion.