By Alexey Sukachev
Manchester native John Murray (29-0, 16 KOs) has finally arrived at European boxing scene after the eleventh-round stoppage of Welshman Gary Buckland (18-2, 6 KOs) adding the vacant EBU lightweight title to already owned british 135lb belt.
WBO #7 and WBC #10 Murray started the fight trying to box the Welsh "Dynamo" who went right at it from the starters. Murray, however, was smarter on the inside working hard off Gary's body with both right and left uppercuts and also left hands to the body. Bulldog-built Welshman tried to come into the close quarters to unload there with series of punches with the special accent on his left hook. He was unable make it connect for the first couple of rounds though.
The situation turned towards Buckland's favour in the third, when the Cardiff resident started to outwork bigger but less active Murray. Buckland's left hand was a key to his partial success in this stanza. Round four was a comeback round for John Murray. He fought not with the same zeal as Buckland but was sharper and more economic.
Round five was the best for the Welshman. He was able to tag Murray with a monster left hand on his way in and rocked him badly enough to bring a war to him. Buckland was trying to get all over the reigning champion but was unable to hit him hard enough (as was obvious prior to the fight from his non-punching record).
From round six it was all Murray's fight who gradually implied more and more pressure especially towards Welshman's body with his hooks and uppercuts. One of them - a right one - caught Gary badly in the midst of the seventh stanza and he was lucky to survive in clinches till the bell. In round eight, it became obvious that Buckland struggled mightly to find inner resources but the brave Welshman continued to fight on through pain and sweat. Buckland's corner looked concerned, thinking about a possible stoppage after this stanza.
The beating became more and more gradual in the next two rounds, though Buckland amazed the local public to deliver some heat to Murray in spurts. It all come to a quiet end in the eleventh when Buckland's actions became more and more sparse and at 1:46 of the round referee Michael McDonald stepped in to halt the action after another brutal combo by Murray.
All in all, it was a memorable night of action for local fans and an ultra-brave performance by the 23-year old challenger, who had his left eye completely shut at the end of this war.