Martin Murray vs Roberto Garcia Preview June 23rd
British middleweight Martin Murray will battle it out with Roberto Garcia of Mexico at the O2 Arena in London this Saturday, June 23rd. Murray was supposed to fight Billy Joe Saunders, but the WBO Middleweight Champion pulled out of the bout with an alleged injury. Murray last fought in September when he beat Arman Torosyan by a fourth-round TKO. Garcia’s last outing was in August when he beat Omar Chavez by a 10-round unanimous decision for the vacant WBC Silver Middleweight Title, which will be on the line against Murray. The 10-round fight can be seen live in the UK and Ireland on BoxNation and on ESPN+ in the U.S.
Murray vs Garcia Betting Odds
Here are the winner odds from online sportsbook 5dimes.eu
- Roberto Garcia +290
- Martin Murray -350
My Pick
The 35-year-old Murray of St. Helens 36-4-1 and has 17 Kos to his name. He’s fought 254 rounds since turning pro in 2007 and is 6-feet-tall with a 73-inch wingspan with a 41 per cent knockout ratio. Murray is a boxer who likes to stay active as this will be his 11th bout since February of 2015. He’s a former Commonwealth and British champion who had a world title shot against Felix Sturm back in 2011, but could only manage a draw. He was then beaten by unanimous decision by Argentina’s Sergio Martinez two years later and stopped by current titleholder Gennady Golovkin in the 11th round in February of 2015.
He then dropped a 12-round split decision to Abraham in his fourth world title shot in November, 2015 and lost a 12-round unanimous decision to George Groves in June of 2016. Looking back, Murray feels he may not have been ready for his first title bout against Sturm since he took a big step up in class to the world level from the domestic level. He’s a good boxer with fine skills, but not much power and obviously falls just short when he steps up in class to meet elite opposition.
He won’t really be facing a Grade A boxer in Garcia on Saturday though, so he may fare a bit better than he does in world title shots. So far, three of the four men who have beaten him were world champions at the time and Golovkin is the only one who managed to stop him and that came in the 11th round. Murray also has a pretty good chin and has been competitive against everybody he’s faced so far and that trend should continue against Garcia on Saturday night.
The veteran Garcia is now 38 years old and carries a record of 41-3 along with 24 Kos. He’s 5-feet-10-inches tall with a 72-inch reach so he’s two inches shorter than Murray with a negligible inch-reach disadvantage. He also has quite a bit of experience as Garcia turned pro back 2001 and has 240 rounds under his belt since then. However, he’s fought most of his bouts at the lower weight level of junior middleweight with a few earlier fights even at welterweight.
Garcia, who fights out of Weslaco, Texas, has decent power with a current knockout percentage of 53 per cent, but has just one stoppage in his last six outings. He has a solid chin though as he hasn’t been stopped in his career, but has been dropped a few times. Garcia hasn’t lost since 2010 when he dropped a 10-round unanimous decision to Antonio Margarito. He’s also been beaten by Ian McKillop by eight-round split decision in 2004 and Calvin Odom by an eight-round unanimous decision a year earlier.
Garcia’s best victories have been against the likes of Jose Medina, Juan Carlos Rubio, Homer Gibbons, Carson Jones, Jose Flores, Antwone Smith, Norberto Gonzalez, Victor Manuel Cayo, Breidis Prescott and Omar Chavez. Garcia’s pushing 40 years old now, but should still be able to give Murray all he can handle. His boxing accomplishments include the Texas State Light Middleweight Title, Texas State Welterweight Title, interim WBC CABOFE Welterweight Title, IBA Americas Welterweight Title and the WBC Silver Middleweight Title.
Prediction…
Murray was hoping to fight for the WBO Middleweight Title this weekend, but will still have a tough job on his hands with Garcia. Murray has the better pure boxing skills though and should do enough to pull out a win at home.
Should be close, with Murray having the slight edge.
Play Murray -350 @ 5dimes.eu
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Martin Murray betting • Roberto Garcia betting