Martin Murray vs Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam Preview Dec. 22nd
British middleweight Martin Murray will battle it out with former WBA Middleweight Champion Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam of Cameroon at the Manchester Arena in England this Saturday, December 22nd. The 10 or 12-round bout can be seen on ESPN+ in the USA and on BT Sports Box Office in the UK. Murray last fought in June for the WBC Silver Middleweight Title when he beat Roberto Garcia by unanimous decision. N’Dam hasn’t boxed since October of 2017 when he lost his title to Ryota Murata after a seventh round stoppage in a rematch.
Murray vs N’Dam Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Hassan N’Dam +130
- Martin Murray -150
My Pick
The 36-year-old Murray of St. Helens is 37-4-1 with 17 Kos to his name. He’s fought 266 rounds since turning pro in 2007. He stands 6-feet-tall with a 73-inch wingspan and owns a 40 per cent knockout ratio. Murray is a boxer who likes to stay active as this will be his 12th 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 former titleholder Gennady Golovkin in the 11th round in February of 2015.
He then dropped a 12-round split decision to Arthur 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 has fallen just short when he steps up in class to meet elite opposition. However, he has won several regional straps as a pro including the interim WBA World Title.
He’ll be facing a tough foe in N’Dam on Saturday, but it’s not a world title shot, so he may fare a bit better than he does when a world championship is on the line. So far, three of the four men who have beaten Murray 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 N’Dam in Manchester. This includes wins over Gabriel Rosado, Max Bursak, Carlos Nascimneto and Nick Blackwell.
N’Dam won the vacant WBA title against Murata in Japan via a highly-controversial split decision in May of 2017. In fact, two of the judges were suspended after the bout for six months and the WBA ordered the rematch in which N’Dam was stopped. The 34-year-old fights out of France, is a former two-time Olympian and will climb into the ring with a record of 36-3 along with 21 Kos. He has also lost by unanimous decisions to former world champs David Lemieux and Peter Quillin by unanimous decisions in June of 2015 and October of 2012 respectively.
The bout against Quillin was for the WBO Title and N’Dam was dropped six times in that fight. He has good mobility and is adept defensively though while his attack is typically set up with his stiff jab. N’Dam has good power, but his chin is obviously a question mark as he’s been on the canvas several times. He’s not known as a one-punch knockout artist though and his current knockout ratio stands at 54 per cent. He turned pro back in 2004 and has fought 268 rounds since then. N’Dam stands just over 5-feet-11-inches tall and has a reach of 74 inches, so is more or less the same size as Murray.
He seems to be content to let his boxing skills carry him to victory and doesn’t usually go looking for stoppages. N’Dam’s biggest wins so far have been against Murata, Curtis Stevens, Fulgencio Zuniga, Alfonso Blanco, Patrick Mendy and Max Bursak. However, like Murray, he struggles when moving up on class. He’s on the same level as Murray, but the ring rust won’t help him.
Prediction…
Both N’Dam and Murray are pretty tough and durable boxers with Murray having a bit better chin and N’Dam possessing slightly more power. This should be a competitive fight, but I’ll go with Murray since he’ll likely get the benefit of hometown scoring if it goes the distance.
Murray’s a bit more durable with a stronger chin.
Play: Murray -150 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam Betting • Martin Murray betting