By Niall Doran
It wasn’t meant to be for middleweight Martin Murray last night, but the argument could be made that he gave GGG his toughest test to date.
Murray started off the fight very brightly with an excellent boxing game plan of sticking and moving behind a very effective jab. Early on he also landed some good right hands on GGG which definitely got his attention. It almost seemed like Golovkin knew he was in there with a very tough adversary from the get go, and gave Murray the respect he deserved.
This was short lived however when the Englishman got put down with two wicked body shots as the fight progressed, but nonetheless Murray battled hard to stay in the fight and every now and then would come out with some very impressive combinations to let GGG know he was still there.
The first body punch that put Murray down looked like a very hurtful shot (right in the bread basket) which caused a delayed reaction for Martin to take a knee. A lot of fighters would not have got up from that and the fact he did and fought on with such tenacity, was testament to his incredibly strong resolve and character as a man.
The second shot to put Murray down was a well placed right hook, right along the side of the rib cage as Murray tucked up with his hands held high on the ropes. Being on the ropes was a common theme in the fight for Murray and this allowed GGG to wail away with massive shots at times on him, with nowhere to go. It was quite incredible the punishment Murray was able to absorb. A remarkably tough man.
Like so many before him, Murray did show that GGG was there to be hit, by landing some very impressive shots throughout the contest.
But that relentless, educated pressure that GGG imposes on his foes, was just too much in the end when he caught Murray with a big right hand in the 11th round (while again on the ropes) and followed up with some sledgehammer combos, prompting the ref to rightly step in and wave halt to the action.
GGG marches on towards world domination of boxing and it really is hard to see if there is any middleweight out there capable of even putting a dent it this apex fighting machine.
Murray’s stock will have rose after this in my opinion. He made GGG work harder than ever before and certainly proved to be his toughest opponent to date. Perhaps a big domestic fight back in the UK might await Murray later in the year.
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