Tag: Martin Murray

Snippets On Arguably The Hottest Topics In The Sweet Science This Week

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Where Were You?
Due to the importance of “the fight” for the annuals of the sport and the build up of the past several years it will be one of those “where were you moments” when recalling your exact location when the Mayweather Pacquiao announcement was made. Mayweather Pacquiao, May 2, MGM Grand Las Vegas. The journey was long but we will now finally see arguably the two best fighters of their generation square off.

Agreed, this fight should ideally have been made years ago but it wasn’t so get over it. This is boxing and if history has taught us anything it’s that things don’t always happen as they should. The alternative would have been that the fight was never made and then what, listen to decades of debate?  No thanks, this is good for the sport and for the legacy of both fighters. You still have the top P4P fighter in the game facing a top three P4P fighter.

Standing-8 was in Las Vegas.

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Gennady Golovkin (32-0 29 KO) was relentless in his 11th Round TKO defeat of Martin Murray (29-2-1 12 KO) in Monte Carlo on Saturday night. GGG bloodied and bruised Murray while dropping him three times in route to the stoppage at 2:10 of the eleventh.

From the opening bell, Golovkin did what he does best, attack, attack, attack. Golovkin cut off the ring and swarmed Murray. Using precise, accurate, and economical punches, Golovkin systematically broke Murray down throughout the fight by landing hooks to the body (some of which dropped Martin), and combinations to the head which included a few timely uppercuts.

Murray is one tough dude with a hell of a beard. He was game throughout the fight, and won a few rounds while having plenty of moments throughout the fight. Murray was able to land overhand rights on Golovkin and work his body but could not do so with any type of consistency due to Golovkin’s constant pressure.Murray landed some very sharp hard punches on Golovkin but simply could not hurt him.

It’s hard to find a negative after such a dominating performance but Golovkin’s defense was a bit porous. Going forward it may pose a problem against a heavy-handed opponent or a boxer/puncher.

Nonetheless, Golovkin looked amazing and upped his consecutive knockout streak to 19.

Boxcino- Time for the Bigs
The Boxcino heavyweight quarterfinals got underway this past Friday night, here is a recap of the tournament openers=

Donovan Dennis 11-1 (9 KO) vs. Steve Vukosa 10-1 (4KO)

Dennis knocked Vukosa down in the third and although Vukosa was able to make it to the bell, he was stopped in the fourth. Dennis dominated all aspects of the fight prior to the stoppage.

Dennis, the Davenport, Iowa native is probably the best pure boxer of the bunch with the quickest hands however he will need to tighten his defense up a bit as he has shown that he can be hit.

Said Dennis, “I took what I could get. I was patient. I was disappointed they stopped it. I had more to show. I’m just looking to get better.”

Dennis will now face the 6’7 Romanian Razvan Cojanu in the semi-finals because…….

Razvan Cojanu 13-1 (7 KO) vs. Ed Fountain 10-1 (4 KO)

Cojanu had his hands full against the undersized and less experienced Fountain. So much in fact that their fight was called a draw after six rounds causing the two combatants to have to fight a seventh and deciding round. Fountain had a chance here but was fatigued which allowed Cojanu to lean on him and do enough to win the round and as a result, the fight.

Cojanu said afterward, “I couldn’t see anything. I was fighting with one eye. Buddy (McGirt) told me to jab and it worked”

Countered Fountain, ” I fought hard, The ref didn’t help. I’ll see Cojanu again after the tournament.”
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Andrey Fedosov 26-3 ( 21 KO ) vs. Nate Heaven 9-2 (7 KO)

Fedosov was dominating in his first round destruction of Heaven. Fedosov dropped Heaven with a left hook and although Heaven was able to get to his feet, he was hit by another left hook and stopped.

“Everything went to plan. Shorten the distance and use my power. That’s what happened.” Said Fedosov

Fedosov is undersized but his opponents should beware, Fedosov could be the sleeper in the tournament.

Fedosov will now face Lenroy Thomas because….

Jason Estrada 20-5 (6 KO) vs.  Lenroy Thomas 18-3 (9 KO)

Estrada and Thomas fought a pretty close fight, so close that they had to go to a seventh round tie breaker. Thomas did enough in the deciding round to take the victory but it really shouldn’t have come to that as he had controlled the fight with his height and reach and exposed Estrada as the last-minute replacement that he was.

Back To The Future

Al Haymon continued his old school approach inking PBC with CBS. (See article below)

Remember The Alamo

Canelo Alvarez had threatened to challenge Mayweather’s May 2 date but since “the fight” was made, he moved his fight against James Kirkland a week later to May 9 from the Alamodome in San Antonio.

Snippets On Arguably The Hottest Topics In The Sweet Science This Week.

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Thanks For Winning, Your Parting Gift Is Labeled GGG…..

This past weekend, the WBC’s #1 rated middleweight, Martin Murray, defeated Domenico Spada by seventh round technical decision. Spada’s right eye had been cut early in the fight by a Murray head butt and while the fight had been relatively close at the time of the stoppage, Murray was winning the fight.

So, what does Murray get for his troubles? A February 2015 date with Gennady Golovkin.

In Murray’s only loss, he did take Sergio Martinez the distance in a closer fight than most expected and even floored Martinez in his backyard of Argentina but Martinez was clearly not physically sound in that bout.

Oddly, Murray used tactics against Spada that would serve him well against Golovkin, like tying Spada up when he tried to get his power shots off and throwing a lot of jabs, problem is Murray doesn’t have power enough to keep Golovkin honest.

Heavy’s Are Heating Up

Finally we are going to get some answers about the future of the heavyweight division.  It was announced that a fight between Deontay Wilder and Bermane Stiverne was near and may happen as early as January. What will happen when Wilder gets hit because he will get hit? How will Stiverne overcome the height and reach of Wilder to land his power shots and in doing so will he leave himself open for a counter? Yes, we are going to learn a lot in the near future.

Keep Telling Yourself  And You May Just Believe It

First, Freddy Roach said that Chris Algieri is not in Manny Pacquiao’s class and that he has jumped too soon.  Now, Roach claims that Pacman’s sparring partner Viktor Postol and others in the camp would be tougher fights than Algieri.  Yes, I know, just Freddy being Freddy, but honestly, I expected more out of a Hall of Fame trainer. He should know talent when he sees it. Ironically, he probably does see it which is why he feels the need to play the mind games. He must see something in both camps that has him concerned. Seems like he is trying to convince his camp more than Algieri’s? Truth is, Algieri is a new breed of fighter, 2.0 as you will. A different approach to training, nutrition, and strategic thinking. Be careful Freddy…

It Could Happen

So, Algieri wasn’t supposed to beat Ruslan Provodnikov, now he’s not supposed to beat Pacquiao. What if? What if he beats Pacquiao and it is him not the Pacman who is rewarded with a Floyd Mayweather fight? Of course, he will not be expected to win that fight either, but what if……….. What an epic run that would be.

Old Man Strong-The Case For Bernard Hopkins

Just less than two weeks away before the Alien meets the Krusher. Look for Standing-8’s article on BHop posted later this week.

Bombs Away

Tommy Coyle knocked out Michael Katsidis on Saturday with a wicked left hook counter in the second round. Katsidis, always a warrior, tried gallantly to get to his feet but was visibly too hurt to continue casing the ref to wave off the fight.  The win by Coyle will reportedly set up a fight against Luke Campbell, who also was victorious on an undercard bout.