By Jake Donovan
Martin Murray moved one step closer towards a desired super middleweight title shot following a 5th round knockout of Jose Miguel Torres in their chief support Saturday evening at First District Arena in Leeds, England. The longtime middleweight contender scored seven knockdowns before the mismatch was mercifully halted.
The intention of the fight was mainly to keep Murray active while continuing to grow into the super middleweight division. A stiffer test was hoped for than what came of the fight, as Torres seemed all too eager to fall down during every exchange.
Murray's right hand did the most damage, although several of the knockdowns didn't seem to require much effort. A temple shot put Torres down for the bout's first official knockdown in round one, at which point any semblance of competition went out the window.
Two more knockdowns in round two appeared to come from glancing blows, leaving Murray disgusted as he wanted to get in some rounds despite his current level of activity. The bout was his third in the past eight weeks since signing with Eddie Hearn earlier this summer.
A stiffer test was hoped for on this particular occasion, but Torres was the wrong man for the job. The mauler from Colombia went down for a fourth time in round three, although it appeared due to his falling to his knees after ducking a right hand.
Following two more clean knockdowns in round four, Murray closed the show in round five. Torres (31-7, 27KOs) was dropped for a seventh time on the night, with referee Howard Foster foolishly issuing an eight count before deciding it was pointless to allow the fight to continue.
Murray rolls to 32-2-1 (15KOs), with all three wins among his current win streak coming by knockout. The three-time middleweight title challenger is being groomed for a crack at reigning super middleweight titlist Arthur Abraham.
UNDERCARD
Tony Bellew continues his quest for a cruiserweight title, picking up his fifth straight win after stopping Latvian journeyman Arturs Kulikauskis in five rounds.
The former light heavyweight contender took a few rounds to solve his opponent's southpaw style before finding his proper rhythm. Kulakauskis (16-27-5, 8KOs) was rocked badly in round four but given a chance by the referee to fight back. Bellew poured on the attack in the subsequent round, prompting a stoppage at 2:06 of round five.
With the win, Bellew advances to 25-2-1 (16KOs) and now waits out the winner of the World cruiserweight championship between Yoan Pablo Hernandez and Victor Ramirez. Promoter Eddie Hearn intends to match Bellew versus the winner.
Isaac Lowe survived his first step up in class, stopping Jamie Speight (13-8, 1KO) in the ninth round of their featherweight grudge match.
The undercard fighters were involved in the lone skirmish during Friday's pre-fight weigh-in, but to their credit managed to bring it to the ring. The bout was entertaining and competitive throughout, before Lowe—a stablemate of heavyweight contender Tyson Fury, who was live at ringside—was able to pull ahead for good late in the fight.
A flurry of power shots from Lowe (11-0, 4KOs) left Speight defenseless, prompting refere Howard Foster to stop the contest at 1:49 of round nine.
Andy Townend (14-3, 10KOs) scored two knockdowns en route to a 7th round knockout of rugged Lee Glover in their super featherweight preliminary bout.
Glover came intent on making things as difficult as possible for the local favorite. A headbutt left Townsend with a cut over his left eye prior to the close of round one, with the boxers banging heads twice more in round two.
Townend eventually seized control, pummelling Glover and scoring the bout's first knockdown in that round as he sought to close the show. The finish would come three rounds later, as a perfectly placed uppercut forced Glover to spit out his gumshield and drop to his knees for the full count at 1:51 of round seven.
Khalid 'Kal' Yafai opened up the show with a blink-and-miss-it 1st round knockout of Nicaragua's Aron Juarez (6-3-1, 0KOs). A body shot was enough to put the visiting 20-year old down for the full count, giving the unbeaten Yafai (16-0, 11KOs) two straight wins inside of a round. The 26-year old prospect from Birmingham, England gets a homecoming for his next fight, a British super flyweight title fight versus Jason Cunningham next month at Barclaycard Arena.
All bouts aired live on Sky Sports.
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com.
Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
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