Will world no.2 Sturm be a step too far for Liverpool's Murray?
Britain's Martin Murray gets a surprise crack at the WBA middleweight title when he takes on defending champion Felix Sturm at the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany tonight. Sturm wanted a rematch with Matthew Macklin following their tough twelve-rounder in June, but the Irishman is anticipating a St. Patrick's Day punch-up with Sergio Martinez at Madison Square Garden next year. Sturm wanted a top quality opponent and chose the WBA's third-ranked contender Murray.
32-year-old Sturm (36-2-1, 15 KOs) has been a stalwart of the middleweight division for eight years now. He won the WBO middleweight title in only his second year as a professional, defeating Argentinian Hector Javier Velazco on a split decision. Sturm gained worldwide attention the following year when he appeared to have clearly beaten Oscar De La Hoya in his second title defense, yet the decision at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas was awarded unanimously to the American.
Sturm kept busy and in 2006 won a unanimous decision over New Zealand-based Samoan Masselino Masoe for the WBA middleweight title. The German suffered a shock loss when he was TKO'd in the 10th round by former two-time WBC light middleweight champion Javier Castillejo in Hamburg. Sturm regained his title in 2007 with a close but unanimous decision over the veteran Spaniard.
The loss against Castillejo may have been a blessing in disguise for Sturm as he has become a much more rounded fighter since regaining his title. He has defended his WBA crown 10 times, and although still somewhat short of the middleweight record of 20 title defenses set by Bernard Hopkins, Sturm's achievements have to be respected.
His standout performances were defeating American Randy Griffin in 2008 (Griffin had held him to a draw a year earlier), outpointing future IBF middleweight champion and fellow German Sebastian Sylvester, also in 2008, stopping Ronald Hearns (son of the great Tommy Hearns) in seven rounds in February of this year, and overcoming Mathew Macklin in a thriller five months ago.
Birmingham born Macklin began the fight like an express train, winning the early rounds with a ferocious body attack. Sturm began his comeback in the second half of the fight, and pulled out the victory with a grandstand finish in the final two rounds. In the 12th Sturm stunned Macklin and appeared to have the Irishman on the brink of a stoppage. Sturm was awarded a split decision, but in reality he looked to have done just enough to retain his title.
A shade under 6' and big at the middleweight limit, Sturm looks to be right at his peak, and proved against Macklin that his fitness and desire is as strong as ever. The German boxes in a classic European style, and employs a high, tight guard that blocks a lot of head shots. He keeps his chin tucked in, and despite the stoppage loss against Castillejo back in 2006, his chin looks sturdy.
It will clearly take a monumental effort by an outstanding fighter to take the German's WBA middleweight title belt from him. Could Liverpool's Martin Murray be that man?
29-year-old Murray (23-0, 10 KOs) was the ABA welterweight champion in 2004. He turned professional in 2007, and fight's under the managerial banner of Ricky Hatton's Hatton Promotions. The 6' Murray began his career as a super middleweight, but dropped down to middleweight in 2008 to enter and win the 160 lb edition of Sky TV and Matchroom's Prizefighter competition.
A classic boxer puncher, Murray was fed a diet of quality opposition early in his career, including the likes of Kevin Concepcion (KO 3), Belarusian hard man Siarhei Khomitski (W 8) and future European middleweight title challenger Shalva Jomardashvili (W 6) before winning the Commonwealth middleweight title with a 12 round decision over Australian Peter Mitrevski Jr in July 2010.
Murray scored a good victory when he TKO'd Brazilian contender Carlos Nascimento in three rounds to win the WBA Intercontinental middleweight title in November 2010, successfully defending it five months later with a fourth round TKO over another Brazilian - John Anderson Carvalho.
In his most recent bout, Murray boxed 20-year-old eight-fight-novice Nick Blackwell for the vacant British middleweight title as well as his WBA Intercontinental and Commonwealth belts. Although Murray won when Blackwell's corner pulled their man out with a rib injury after five rounds of competitive action, it was an awkward fight for Murray as he faced an inexperienced, unconventional yet game opponent, but he kept his cool and did what he had to do to earn the victory.
Murray is a good boxer with an excellent left jab. He is somewhat suspect defensively, and tends to expose his chin when he throws his shots, but so far his speed and footwork, plus a less than taxing level of opposition have compensated for any defensive frailties. Now he faces the man most experts would rank as the second best middleweight in the world behind Sergio Martinez. Boxrec, Fightnews, The Ring Magazine and ESPN all rate Sturm as the no.2 middleweight in the world today, and he will present a massive step up in class for Murray.
Although I like Murray's fighting style, I feel that he has not faced anything like the level of opposition needed to defeat Sturm, especially in his native country. With only 10 KOs on his record, Murray is not the puncher that Macklin is, and will not command the same level of respect from Sturm as the Irishman did earlier this year.
I think Sturm dominates this fight from early on, and may even try to win on a late round stoppage. Although I don't believe that the German has the power to KO Murray, I nevertheless think that he will win a comfortable decision. Murray's fitness and ambition should get them through to the final bell, and hopefully he will learn from the loss and the experience of fighting a genuinely world-class operator in Felix Sturm and come back stronger.
Sturm by unanimous decision.
Big Fights Odds: Martin Murray 3/1, Felix Sturm 2/9
SkyBet 