Sergio Martinez vs. Martin Murray Preview April 27
WBC middleweight king Sergio Martinez will be fighting in his homeland of Argentina for the first time in over 10 years when he defends his title against Martin Murray of Britain on Saturday April 27 in Buenos Aires. Martinez is generally considered to be one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world at the moment and certainly the best in the 160 lb. middleweight division.
The 30-year-old Murray stands six feet tall and has an unbeaten record at 25-0-1 with 11 Kos. He’s the former Commonwealth Champion with good boxing skills, but little in the way of power. He had a decent amateur career and likes to stay busy in the ring by throwing punches in volume. He doesn’t have one-punch knockout power and his stoppages typically come after he’s worn his opponents down over time. He’s fought a couple of good boxers in the past as he battled former WBA champion Felix Sturm to a draw in 2011 and stopped the previously unbeaten Jorge Navarro in six rounds late last year.
Martinez is now 38 years old and the southpaw is a couple of inches shorter than Murray at 5-foot-10. He’ll enter the ring with a record of 50-2-2 with 28 Kos. Martinez has good footwork and is underrated defensively. This is generally because he’s known for his explosive power. He’s got fast hands and also throws his shots in volume. His chin may now be a little questionable since Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. dropped him in the 12th and final round of their bout last year.
Martinez had given Chavez a boxing lesson up until then, but Chavez caught him and many fans feel the champion was lucky to have been saved by the final bell. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s gun shy in this bout and how he reacts if Murray tags him on the chin. This should be more of a boxing match than a toe-to-toe brawl though and that will favour the champion. Murray may have a hard time finding Martinez and will have to be wary of his counterpunching if he’s throwing in volume. Martinez could time him perfectly and drop him with an accurate counter.
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Prediction
Murray doesn’t seem to have the power to hurt Martinez unless the champion has never fully recovered from the Chavez fight. He’s just going to have to throw as many punches as possible to try and rack up points or hope he lands one on the button. If Murray throws as many punches as he usually does it will force Martinez to keep up the pace and at 38 years old he could possible start to tire. Murray shouldn’t count on this though. Since he doesn’t have enough power to keep Martinez at bay he’s probably going to be beaten by a decision or stopped in the second half of the fight after tasting several of Martinez’s big shots.
Odds
Sportsbook 5dimes.eu has the latest odds of a Martinez win at -800 and a Murray victory at +550. Visit 5Dimes.eu to see up to date odds and to bet on this fight. You should also check out our recent boxing betting predictions to see how we’ve done of late capping the fights.
Martin Murray betting • Sergio Martinez betting