By Coach Tim Walker – Hello readers and welcome to the first installment of Weekly Stud. Weekly Stud will be a permanent fixture on this website with the sole purpose of bringing awareness of the next bred of boxers to the forefront. The idea for this came about after continual correspondence with a female reader. She, being relatively new to the sport, wanted to read more about up and coming fighters. Before deciding to contribute this on a weekly basis I considered it thoroughly primarily because I wanted to make certain I was committed to it. Now that I’ve committed its time to get started.
What is Weekly Stud?
Weekly Stud will be an open and thorough analysis of up and coming boxers (managers, trainers and promoters feel free to contact me about your prospects).. Fighters can also submit themselves as well. Weekly Stud will be a fighter analysis though there may be times that it will feature interviews. The purpose of Weekly Stud is to introduce new faces to the boxing community. Note it is not for American fighters only. It is for the sport of boxing.
Given my open invitation to be contacted I feel it necessary to put forth a few criteria. First, managers, trainers and promoters will not control the scope of my assessment. I welcome your input but my goal is to present fighters in a perspective that fans can learn about them. Second, fighters should fall under the umbrella of prospect but very near the umbrella of potential contender. Lastly, my intent is not to bash fighters rather to introduce them to the public. In that spirit I want my assessment to be as accurate as possible. With that in mind this week’s Weekly Stud is Karo Murat.
Karo Murat, light-heavyweight (20-0-0 KOs 12)
Murat was born Armenian but reared in Germany and has no amateur background in boxing. Having the success he has experienced with no amateur boxing experience speaks well of his trainer Ulli Wegner. Though experiencing success as a super middleweight he very recently made the move to light heavyweight though he did not seem to have any issue making the 168 pound limit having hit the mark throughout his career. Nevertheless, according to his trainer Wegner, the move to light heavyweight was made because of a weight issue though it appears to have more to do with his chances at becoming a world champion. Europeans hold many of the top spots and all the championships at 168 pounds. The 175 pound class seems a bit more open for movement especially when you consider Murat has a recent win over WBA light heavyweight champion Gabriel Campillo.
Murat the Fighter
Murat was considered a slightly undersized super-middleweight and at 5′-10″ he will certainly be considered an even smaller light heavyweight but make no mistake he can fight. As with all fighters I have noticed a few details that require a bit more work.
Murat is a flat footed fighter but does this because he focuses on economical power shots. His left hook to body seems to be a favored weapon and it is potent. Still, he does not appear to be very mobile in the ring and utilizes a high cover as his main defense. This will cause a bit of a problem as he moves up because he does have the straight up traditional stance of a European fighter. His high guard leaves his mid-section somewhat exposed but it hasn’t been a problem thus far. What he lacks in hand speed he makes up for in power.
His jab, whether singular or doubled, is very accurate albeit not extremely fast. His jab looses a bit of potency when he throws it in combination. In combination he telegraphs the jab and opens up his right guard. This hasn’t been an issue either thus far because he hasn’t faced a fighter quick enough to counter it.
His footwork is good. However, he does not cut the ring off very well and has a tendency to follow his opponent at times. This is partly due to his flat footed stance and maintaining his position to throw power shots. The biggest issue with his footwork is an occasional crossing of his lead foot. Ironically it happens when he has his opponent against the ropes and they, in retreat, shift left. Again, this isn’t an issue because his opponents are retreating.
His head movement is totally absent. Again, this is not a huge problem now because he hasn’t faced a thoroughbred puncher so he may want to develop that attribute of his fight game.
Offensively he is a machine. He is very active and fights very well inside for a stand up fighter. His left hook and right uppercut are lively. His conditioning is superb as well. He throws punches with similar fervency and quantity in the final rounds as he does in the early rounds.
Final Synopsis of Murat
Murat is an excellent fighter who does not fall easily into the mold of the modern European fighter though he does possess similar elements. Twelve knock outs in 20 fights might suggest to some that he lacks power but I differ with this assessment. His movement around the ring is methodical but also very purposeful. It will be interesting to see what he does against a slick speedster or a serious banger.
Murat’s current light heavyweight rankings: WBO #3, WBA #6, WBC #7 and IBF #11. He is also the former EBU Super Middleweight Champion which he vacated in lieu of the move to light heavyweight.
Note: Murat is currently trained by Ulli Wegner the trainer for Arthur Abraham, Oktay Urkal, Sven Ottke and Marco Huck
Rumor Mill: There is a possible match up with Yusaf Mack for a #1 IBF eliminator spot. If the fight happens it will probably be somewhere in Europe.
Championship Potential (scale of poor, decent, good, excellent, absolute): Good to Excellent
Coach Tim Walker is a contributing writer for Eastsideboxing.com and his own blog at boxing4life.blogspot.com. For questions, comments or to suggest fighters for Weekly Stud please contact him at tpwalker@hotmail.com