Martin Murray

By Scott Gilfoid: #2 WBC, #4 WBA George Groves (23-3, 18 KOs) and #10 WBC Martin Murray (33-3-1, 16 KOs) will be fighting in a WBA super middleweight title eliminator this Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, UK. The winner of the Groves-Murray fight will be the mandatory challenger of WBA World super middleweight champion Giovanni De Carolis. That’s kind of a scary thought because neither of these guys has done much to deserve a title shot so quickly after they were beaten in failed world title shots.

Groves’ history of gassing out in his fights is quite evident. He’s a good six-round fighter, but after that point, he fades and implodes. Groves says he’s fixed his stamina issues with the help of trainer Shane McGuigan, and he feels that Murray shouldn’t count on him fading late in this fight.

“I’m looking to steal the show,” said Groves to Sky Sports about his fight against Murray on Saturday on the Joshua vs. Breazeale card. “Neither of us can afford to lose. I don’t plan on ever losing again. I’m looking forward to showing all the improvements I’ve made on June 25.”

By Scott Gilfoid: George Groves and Martin Murray will be stepping into the last chance saloon on June 25, when the two of them battle it out in a WBA super middleweight title eliminator at O2 Arena in London, England. The fact that the promoters for these two fighters were lucky enough to have the World Boxing Association make this a 168lb title eliminator doesn’t erase the fact that these are two BADLY struggling fighters right now.

Even the winner of the Groves-Murray fight is going to have a tough time keeping their careers afloat for long as viable contenders. However, it was smart of #2 WBC, #3 WBO, #4 WBA, #10 IBF Groves and #10 WBC Murray to target the two WBA titles at 168, because those are were the easy marks are at in terms of the champions.

By Scott Gilfoid: George Groves (23-3, 18 KOs) is a three-time loser when challenging for world titles. He’s going to be facing four-time world title failure Martin Murray (33-3-1, 16 KOs) this month on June 25 in a battle on Sky Box Office pay-per-view at the O2 Arena in London, UK.

According to the 28-year-old Groves, this could be the end of the line for the 33-year-old Murray if he loses this fight. Groves points out that Murray is an older fighter, and that he’s tried everything he can to try and win world titles in four attempts and he’s failed to win.

By Scott Gilfoid: #10 WBC Martin Murray (33-3-1, 16 KOs) says he’s picked up loads of confidence from his title shot against WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin last year. Murray, 33, was stopped in the 11th round after getting trapped against the ropes by Golovkin and literally pummeled until the referee had to step in and halt the fight. It’s hard to understand how Murray got more confidence from his loss to Golovkin because he looked utterly poor in that fight. It was one of those Custer’s last stand type of routs for Murray. He was getting bludgeoned by Golovkin and on the retreat constantly until he was stopped in round 11.

Murray says he’s going to take the confidence from the Golovkin fight into his WBC 168lb eliminator bout against three-time world title challenger George Groves (23-3, 18 KOs) on June 25 at the O2 Arena in London, England. Groves-Murray is the co-feature bout on the Anthony Joshua vs. Dominic Breazeale card on Sky Box Office PPV.

By Scott Gilfoid: Martin Murray (33-3-1, 16 KOs) wants to take #2 WBC 168 contender George Groves (23-3, 18 KOs) into the deeper waters and drown him in their fight this month on June 25 at the O2 Arena in London, UK. Groves has the superior punching power, and is at his most dangerous early in his fights.

#10 WBC Murray is mindful of Groves’ power early on, which is why he’ll surely be looking to take him into the later rounds so that he can tire him out and score a knockout. Groves was stopped twice by Carl Froch in the past after he took him past the seventh round. Groves also looked faded in his fight last year against Badou Jack when he took him into the later rounds.

By Scott Gilfoid: The 5’11 ½” George Groves (23-3, 18 KOs) looked decidedly taller than the 6’0” Martin Murray (33-3-1, 16 KOs) in their press conference today when the two of them stood facing off with one another to publicize their important fight next month on June 25 on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua vs. Dominic Breazeale card at the O2 Arena in London, UK.

Murray is supposed to be at least a half inch taller than Groves, but instead of being taller, Murray looked to be at least two inches shorter than Groves and considerably lighter with the smaller frame. Looks to me like Groves might have been wearing some kind of elevator shoes to give him a size edge over Murray. A bit of gamesmanship is what it looks like to me.