By Jake Donovan
Martin Murray expected a tougher challenge than the disappointing effort that was put forth by Jose Miguel Torres. Their super middleweight clash Saturday evening in Leeds, England—saw Murray score seven knockdowns en route to a 5th round knockout, his third win in the span of eight weeks since signing with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing in June.
The bout with Torres was supposed to be a step up in class, but the Colombian banger struggled to remain on his feet, hitting the canvas a dozen or so times between knockdowns, slips and attempted clinches.
Needless to say, the training camp for this fight was more grueling than the fight itself.
“I’ve never been in a fight like that with the opponent up and down like that,” Murray (32-2-1, 15KOs) during his post-fight interview on Sky Sports, which televised the card. “The condition showed. We stuck to our game plan and did what we did.”
The win was Murray’s third straight knockout, feeling like a new fighter after moving up from the middleweight division, going 0-2-1 in three separate cracks at a world title.
Saturday’s placement on the show—which came in chief support to local hero Josh Warrington’s 12-round shutout over Joel Brunker in their featherweight headliner—was
Murray’s first regional title fight as a super middleweight. The intention was to get him acclimated for bigger came to come.
The Brit has been rumored as a potential future opponent for reigning super middleweight titlist Arthur Abraham, although his team also left the door wide open for big fights in country.
“We’ve talked a lot about fighting Arthur Abraham, but Martin is ready for anyone,” Hearn insisted. “You’ve got James DeGale who is a champion. You got George Groves who could win a world title (on September 12 versus defending champ Badou Jack).
“It’s a great time for the super middleweight division in Britain and the world. He’s ready for a world title shot, he’s ready for a big fight. He’s had three fights in eight weeks, he’s going to recover for a couple of weeks and then on we go to a big fight.”
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com
Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
Facebook Page: JakeBScene
