Comments Thread For: Ricky Hatton: Martin Murray Should Be Middleweight Champ

[Tonyu]

Martin impressed me know he fought magnificently and I had Martinez winning by KO between 7 - 9 rounds but Murray fought galantly - I had them dead even after 10 rounds and Martinez winning the last 2 rounds which then edged it for him - Martin can be very pleased but also in the same breathe I think MARTINEZ is carrying too many injuries and past his best he should contemplate retirement and go out on a high before losing to someone he should easily of beaten - but respect to Murray - with regards to who is the best in

[feroth]

Murray fought a great fight but I thought he didn't do enough to win the early rounds and when it was crunch time, it was Martinez who stepped on the gas and took over the fight in the last 2 rounds...even though Martinez was clearly not as conditioned or energetic as Murray, there's no excuse for that. And Martinez actually caught Murray pretty good in the 12th and hurt him even tho Murray tried not to show it. This was a case of Murray being smart by just covering up and throwing when Martinez is off balance because its clear what Martinez's strengths and flaws are. ALL Martinez did was throw the same 1-2 all night and mixed in a little right hook at the end once in a while, he was so basic. And he was clearly out of shape in comparison to his other fights

[Babalu11]

Yes Maravilla is slowing down, yes that was 2 kdowns, but Murray gave the fight away in the last 2 rounds, he couldn't keep up with the pace like the rest. Maravilla should go down to 154, he gives too much in size and stregth advantange. and is going to catch up soon. Not too mention he broke his hand again.

[dde91]

Was a close fight going into the championship rounds and murray didn't close the show. If he won those rounds it would be new middleweight champion.

[MarcianoFan]

i agee. i also think by late in the fight murray and his corner should have known martinez was there for the taking and should have closed out stronger. just like in the sturm fight, murray just didnt finish strongly enough to get a decision against the champion on his home ground.

It's a cowardly argument to say a guy should have done better in the last two rounds, and therefore can't complain about being robbed. The fact is, he had done enough in the prior 10 rounds that he shouldn't have had to worry about anything worse than a draw. If you're looking for people to fault here, you should start with Nicolas Hidalgo, Rey Danseco, Alejandro Rochin, and Massimo Barrovecchio. Then move on to the Argentine commission, who appointed a mediocre judge in Rochin, an inexperienced/unknown one in Hidalgo, and a proven poor one in Danseco, and topped it off by backing up Barrovecchio's obviously blatantly wrong call after "reviewing it via instant replay." Then you should move on to Martinez, who "should have" done better in the first 12 rounds so as to have a legitimate argument to win the fight. If you've still got enough energy and breath left by the time you're done criticizing those people, THEN you can get around to criticizing the 2 rounds that Murray didn't close well in, or any of the prior 4 that Sergio arguably or definitely won.

The fact is, Murray outperformed a guy that nobody gave him much chance to outperform. He's the last guy that deserves to be blamed for his loss.

[Motofan]

I'm with Dwyer on this one. Sergio lost because of people's expectations, not because he actually lost. The fight could have went either way but people saw Sergio look like **** and get hurt so they lean that way. Make no mistake, Sergio looks finished and the fight could have easily went the other way. And I'm a huge Martinez fan.

[Bigg Rigg]

Had it even thru 10 but the rds 11&12, Sergio closed the show and that's why he's still the champ.

[Zelong Dong]

Murray had his chance but he blew it, referee blew a call, but a majority of the rds looked to be given away by Murray with inactivity. He gave away the last 2 rds for sure. Sergio was constantly throwing so maybe that's why Murray didnt commit more to the offensive.

[MarcianoFan]

Murray had his chance but he blew it, referee blew a call, but a majority of the rds looked to be given away by Murray with inactivity. He gave away the last 2 rds for sure. Sergio was constantly throwing so maybe that's why Murray didnt commit more to the offensive.

If you're looking for clean effective punching, and not just activity (not a proper criterion for scoring), then I don't think you could reasonably have it any better for Sergio than 114-113, and that's with every toss-up round in his favor, and giving Barrovecchio a pass on the blown call and scoring it as if there was no KD (which in fairness, the real judges were practically required to do).

Sergio won round 1,2,7, and 12 at least somewhat clearly, and I gave him the slight edge in the razor-thin rounds 3 and 11. The only other round he even had an argument was 9. So to have it for Martinez by even a point, you pretty much have to a) be a bad judge, quite frankly or b) let the ref get away with robbery on the first knockdown. Bottom line: with fair and objective officiating, the score would have been anywhere between 113-113 and 116-110 for Murray. Not a chance in hell Sergio won that fight fairly. And Sergio was absolutely my favorite fighter going into the fight. I tend to look down on guys that win by robbery, so he's probably even with Carl Froch at this point. But still...one of my top 2 favorites easily.

[Zelong Dong]

If you're looking for clean effective punching, and not just activity (not a proper criterion for scoring), then I don't think you could reasonably have it any better for Sergio than 114-113, and that's with every toss-up round in his favor, and giving Barrovecchio a pass on the blown call and scoring it as if there was no KD (which in fairness, the real judges were practically required to do).

Sergio won round 1,2,7, and 12 at least somewhat clearly, and I gave him the slight edge in the razor-thin rounds 3 and 11. The only other round he even had an argument was 9. So to have it for Martinez by even a point, you pretty much have to a) be a bad judge, quite frankly or b) let the ref get away with robbery on the first knockdown. Bottom line: with fair and objective officiating, the score would have been anywhere between 113-113 and 116-110 for Murray. Not a chance in hell Sergio won that fight fairly. And Sergio was absolutely my favorite fighter going into the fight. I tend to look down on guys that win by robbery, so he's probably even with Carl Froch at this point. But still...one of my top 2 favorites easily.

Murray had to do more to take the title from the champ. It's not Sergio's fault they gave him the decision, no reason to look down on him