Britain’s Martin Murray (29-2-1, 12 KOs) gave it a good try tonight in battling WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (32-0, 29 KOs) hard for 10 rounds, but in the 11th round, Golovkin battered a bruised and bleeding Murray until the fight was stopped by referee Luis Pabon at the Salle des Étoiles in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Murray looked a lot bigger than Golovkin tonight, and that might be one of the reasons why he was able to survive for so long. Murray looked at least 180 pounds, and he appeared to have a significant weight advantage over Golovkin. The fight was like watching a talented middleweight take on a light heavyweight or a small cruiserweight without power.
The fight should have arguably been stopped several rounds earlier, because Murray was taking a lot of punishment and he wasn’t able to find enough power to get Golovkin’s respect or attention. The fight was stopped at 0:50 of the 11h round by referee Luis Pabon.
Golovkin knocked Murray down three times in the fight, and he had his face bleeding and swollen. Murray was knocked down twice in the 4th with body shots, and once in the 10th round from a right to the head. In the 11th, Golovkin was teeing off on a hurt Murray when referee Luis Pabon stopped the fight. Murray was trapped against the ropes and he had dropped his gloves after getting hit with an especially powerful right hand from Golovkin. The referee did the smart thing in stopping the fight because Murray likely would have been sent to the canvas had the fight gone a little longer.
The win gives Golovkin his 19th consecutive knockout. Murray did well to last to the 11th round, because he was just taking big shots from Golovkin and he wasn’t able to keep him off of him. Murray fought well in the first couple of rounds, but after the 3rd, it was all downhill for Murray the rest of the way.
Murray was able to stifle Golovkin’s offense with his clinching and moving for a little while, but Golovkin did a good job of cutting off the ring and forcing Murray to fight him in a toe-to-toe manner. Murray landed a lot of shots, but his punches didn’t have much of an effect on Golovkin.
Other boxing results:
Lee Haskins TD 8 Omar Lamiri
Hughie Fury UD 10 Andriy Rudenko
