In an era rich in superfluous World title variations the term ‘paying your dues’ just doesn’t carry the same weight as it once did.
Unless of course you’re referring to fighters like Martin Murray, 29-1-1 (12KO’s), who today challenges arguably the most feared man in boxing – Gennady Golovkin, 31-0 (28KO’s) – in Monte Carlo.
It’s Murray’s third World title tilt and his most difficult to date. To say that about a man whose previous attempts came against Felix Sturm in Germany and Sergio Martinez in Argentina illustrates the enormity of the task at hand.
That task will be to stop a blistering comet that has ripped a hole in the middleweight division and left the rest hiding in under their beds.
Gennady Golovkin arrives on the back of 18 straight stoppage wins and a Mike Tyson like reputation that strikes fear into the heart of his opponents, he’s a superstar and one that’s not going to beaten anytime soon.
But, in the shape of the powerful St Helens middleweight who doesn’t do intimidation he will face his stiffest test to date.
Murray himself has confirmed throughout that he and his excellent trainer Oliver Harrison have studied the Kazakh’s armour and are yet to find a chink. But, certainly one fight they will have paid close attention to is, Golovkin’s 8th round stoppage of Curtis Stevens in November 2013.
Stevens had minor success in that fight with his tight defence and sharp movement, serving to frustrate GGG before succumbing under the sheer weight of the freakish punching power he was forced to endure.
Ok, I’m clutching at straws and to say Murray has more than a punchers chance of winning this contest would be a stretch of epic proportions. However, there is not a middleweight out there with the physical strength of 32-year-old, nor is there one with a better defence and I believe he will provide the test the world has been craving.
If Golovkin demolishes Martin Murray, there can be no dissention any longer. This guy is the real deal and every fighter in the middleweight division and the one above will be heading for hills.
I don’t feel sorry Murray, he has been given the opportunity to achieve his lifelong dream on more than one occasion, has earned a great deal of money and looks a content guy who will attain his dream in the future. It’s just a travesty that he was not given a fair run in his previous attempts.
He beat Sturm and Martinez for my money, but he won’t be winning tonight.
Two hotly disputed World title fight decisions on the road followed by a third opportunity against boxing’s Grim Reaper…
Talk about paying your dues.
