John Murray aims for world titles
John Murray kept up his pursuit of a world title by defeating Andriy Kudryavstev with a ninth-round stoppage on Saturday night, successfully defending his European title in the process.
The Manchester-born lightweight will now look towards the likes of the winner from the Michael Katsidis v Juan Manuel Marquez battle as well as Humberto Soto and Victor Ortiz as he next opponent as he makes a step up to top-level fighters.
It was a tough night’s work for the European champion; he was made to grind through several gruelling rounds and would have come away well aware he was in a fight. Kudryavstev wasn’t just there to make up the numbers, he came to win and showed tremendous durability to stand up to the champion’s constant attacks and pepper him back with power-bombs of his own.
The fight caught fire from the second round onwards as the pugilists went blow-for-blow and toe-for-toe with heavy shots ferociously exchanged. Murray was racking up the rounds but he was having to work his socks off to do so. He showed a renewed vigour which was missing in parts of his previous fight against Gary Buckland and it was certainly a determined showing.
By the fifth round Murray’s dominance was starting to tell and Kudryavstev was desperately scrambling around trying to get himself back into contention. The contender must have felt the fight slipping away and he rallied as Murray threatened to lose his mid-fight composure again.
However Muuray pulled it together and came back strongly, proving that he can regain control of a fight after losing a mid round, unlike he did against Buckland. By the time the penultimate round rolled in Murray was firmly in control, picking off Kudryavstev at will. Finally in the ninth round the champ snapped the tiring Ukrainians head back with a fizzing right hook prompting the referee to wave things off.
Despite the frantic affair both men stayed on their feet for the duration of the fight which was a tribute to both men’s fantastic durability and conditioning because this was an all-out war.
Next Murray will look around for an opponent who will take him up a level or preferably earn him a world belt. There is strong word about an Ortiz match up, but realistically that may not be a good move for Murray because Ortiz is flying at the moment, is slightly bigger and doesn’t hold a belt so the negatives may outweigh the positives on that one.
Looking at domestic rivals Kevin Mitchell has lost his mystic since Katsidis tore him apart and Amir Khan is sorted with Marcos Maidana so there are no options there.
Ali Funeka isn’t a bad shout, a winnable fight certainly but again doesn’t hold a belt and maybe Miguel Vazquez who is the IBF holder would be a more suitable opponent.
Murray says he hopes to get the fight sorted before Christmas as he becomes yet another talented young British boxer pushing for a world title.
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