by Carlos Boogs
Super middleweight contender Martin Murray holds the current record as the only fighter to extend Gennady Golovkin (35-0, 32KOs) to the eleventh round.
Their fight, which took place last February in Monaco, was the closest any fighter had come to lasting the twelve round distance with GGG. Golovkin has stopped his last 22 opponents.
After that defeat, Murray moved up to the super middleweight division. He returns on June 25th against George Groves as part of the Anthony Joshua-Dominic Breazeale undercard at the O2 Arena in London.
Murray has faced a who's who of former middleweight champions over the years, including Arthur Abraham, Felix Sturm and Sergio Martinez. He says Golovkin is on another level when compared to those fighters.
There are ongoing talks for Golovkin to defend his WBC/WBA/IBF/IBO middleweight belts against Mexican superstar Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez in fall. Canelo had been ordered to face Golovkin by the WBC, but vacated the title and the sanctioning body named Golovkin as their new champion.
Murray believes Canelo and his team want no part of Golovkin and doubts the fight will come off in the fall.
"They don't want the fight, it's as simple as that. That's why it's not happening. Is [Canelo] a middleweight? No, I don't think he is. He's obviously been in some massive fights, but he's fighting one of the best middleweights that I can ever remember," Murray told BoxingScene.com's Declan Taylor.
"Believe me I've been in the ring with Sturm, Abraham, Martinez - Golovkin is on another level compared to all of them. He's on another level. That's a massive fight [between Golovkin and Canelo]. I don't know why it's not happening now. It's a massive money fight. The thing is, [Canelo] doesn't want it and Golovkin won't come down to 155. Why should he? The belts are at 160."
If the fight does happen, Murray is backing Golovkin all the way. In fact, Murray backs Golovkin to beat everyone in the middleweight. He says the feared puncher will have to move up to super middleweight to test himself against much stiffer opposition.
"Golovkin will shut him down. If it's at 160, Golovkin will shut him down. I don't think anybody will beat Golovkin at 160. He's going to have to [move up] if he wants the [tough] fights. He's going to have to," Murray said.