Relentless Murray Threshes His Way To European Title
The man they call “The Machine” whirred back into life last night, after a seven month hiatus spent rusting in Manchester. At a low key location in Widnes, world rated John Murray annexed the European lightweight crown in victory over the ballsy Welshman, Gary Buckland, after a domestic fight of the year candidate.
Those in the know, fancied that an entertaining battle was in prospect based on the respective styles of both men, however, Buckland’s kamikaze ‘kill or be killed’ approach meant it was even better than advertised.
Murray, the hard as nails pressure fighter was met mid-ring by the Welshman, who was quick and busy yet lacked sufficient pop to derail the British champion unduly. As Buckland pressed straight ahead, face down and arms pumping, Murray pounded his body with a wonderful yet frightening two handed assault.
With Manchester’s former top notch action men at ringside, in Ricky Hatton and Jamie Moore, Murray displayed an arsenal of infighting skill which has many convinced that he can carry the aforementioned duo’s torch forth on both the European and world stage.
The fight continued to unfold within a metre square of canvas through rounds two and three, with the gulf in class widening by the minute. The tanned and chiselled Murray showed excellent defence and was punching with fine accuracy, whilst the raw looking Buckland began fielding punches, yet remained full of fight and vigour.
Murray stunned his man with a right upstairs in the second, yet concentrated his attacks predominately downstairs, ramming horrible looking punches into the pit of the challenger’s stomach. As the bell sounded to end the fight’s first quarter, Murray had outgunned his man by 70 punches to 27.
One of John’s finest attributes is his stoic and unflinching poise. Like the ‘machine’ moniker bestowed upon him by trainer Joe Gallagher, his face is a mask of determination, no matter which way the action shifts, as he works over his opponent round after round.
Murray chipped away in the fourth, like a psychotic sculptor chiselling a live slab of marble and began to deplete Buckland’s defences, throwing lovely overhand rights and right body shots in tandem. The strength sapping body attack began to restrict Gary’s punching, although he responded heroically with volleys of shots to Murray’s head.
The sixth featured yet more clever punch picking from the Mancunian, as his strength advantage came into play. Momentum was with him now and he carried it into the seventh, a huge round for the champion. Buckland would advance with his head down and gloves up, yet when opening up to throw, his hands would fall. His lack of power meant he was having to throw his entire body into his punches in order to keep Murray honest and as he went for broke with a left hook, John busted him straight up the middle with a crunching right uppercut. Buckland held instinctively, smothering John’s left, yet was pounded to the trunk by Murray’s free hand.
On they went, scrapping away fiercely into the eighth, Buckland now with a swollen left eye and a bloody and busted snout, resembling a lumpen gargoyle. Despite his worsening condition, this brave Cardiff lad refused to lay down. Gritty, hard and game he continued to go after the champion, yet was catching hell for his temerity. At the end of the session, referee Marcus McDonnell (who I thought was excellent) called by the corner to check on his condition.
The beating continued into the ninth, at which point I personally would have liked to have seen Buckland’s corner save him from himself. As he marched into the threshing machine which opposed him, he could barely see a thing and admitted as much in the corner between rounds.
Then, incredulously, Gary went out and had perhaps his best round, landing upstairs often, leaving those watching this barnburner of a fight at the Kingsway leisure centre, to ponder whether Murray had shot his bolt. As they plopped onto their stools, we were informed that Murray had landed a startling 100 body punches to Buckland’s 16. Every one of those had been thrown with menacing intent.
The eleventh brought the curtain down on affairs. Murray put his foot to the floor from the get go, and McDonnell was at last able to rescue Buckland from further harm. It had been a truly epic effort from the man and on another evening, against different opposition, it surely would have edged him closer to this European strap. Whilst fighters continue to perform with the spirit shown by Buckland, boxing shall remain the most stirring of sports.
Murray now marches on, demanding post fight that he be kept busy so that he can finally bridge the gap to world class. His defence has clearly improved and his punch selection, engine and toughness are top drawer. If he can develop a fraction more power, he can be a real force on the world scene. A fight with his southern rival, the streaking Kevin Mitchell would be a sure fire domestic classic.
Murray advances to 29-0 (17) whilst Buckland falls to 18-2 (6) (Murray also wins the Lonsdale belt outright).
8 comments on “Relentless Murray Threshes His Way To European Title”
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That was the bravest challenge I’ve seen in a British ring since Francis Jones insane effort against Kevin Anderson a few years ago. Incredible stuff from Buckland. The guy was brave beyond the call of duty.
Murray-Mitchell is one to savour. But this is boxing and it sounds too good to happen.
I said the very same thing last night Dave, brave beyond the call indeed. It sticks in the craw that Buckland will probably have earned less for his bravery than Wlad Klitschko coined in selling advertising for his press conference with Eddie Chambers.
I’m hopeful for Murray’ chances of landing a bout with Mitchell, I remember at the post fight presser after Kevin whupped Prescott, he personally leaned in and mentioned John’s name whilst Warren was rhyming off names of prospective opponents. Thing is, he needs to bring more to the table than he can currently, I’m a huge fan of Murray and it bothers me to see him fighting in leisure centres for peanuts. Hennessy needs to get him bigger fights.
I was desperate to make the trip for this one but Widnes is a ball ache for me to get to. I’ll be at the Mitchell fight next week though and I’m pondering going down to see Ryan Rhodes in Sheffield (I’m covering it for ‘The Boxing Bulletin’).
Can you imagine Buckland against Gavin Rees?
He needs a long rest, he must be sore as hell this morning.
You’re going to the big bill next week? Nice one. I’ll be at the Andy Lee fight, so I’ll probably miss the show live (God bless the man who invented Sky Plus). It’s great that neither Mitchell-Katsidis or Khan-Malignaggi will be on PPV. Boxing fans win for a change.
Buckland against Rees would be a cracker. I had never seen Buckland before, but I read he’s normally a box and move type! For selfish reasons, I’d like to see him keep the style he displayed last night. That was amazing stuff.
Sure am, I think Mitchell’s in for a hell of a fight, wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
Should be a good day, cup final, big fight, few drinks then Khan-Malignaggi ON NETWORK TV!!!!
Andy Lee eh? He’s fighting Thiam I hear, is it really 10 years since he faced Felix Trinidad, right in the middle of Tito’s light middleweight wrecking spree. Surely Lee will have too much there. The Cubans are fighting too, keep an eye out for Luis Garcia for me, he looked a good prospect a while back, wonder how he’s developed.
Yeah, Lee should take him, but I worry about high Andy keeps his chin at times and the last thing a fighter loses is his punch. Lee on points, but there could be some nervy moments.
Looking forward to watching Garcia again. He looks quality. Have my doubts about Perez though. The guy Garcia is facing, Alex Sipos, gave Lee a tough night’s work last year, so it’ll be an interesting test for the Cuban.
Katie Taylor is on the bill as well in a special exhibition. Always a pleasure to watch the best in the world in any sport and Taylor is without question the best amateur female boxer in the world.
I don’t know much about Katie Taylor, has she turned pro? I’m not a big fan of female boxing, although I have the highest respect for anyone who climbs through the ropes………maybe not so much for the guy who ‘fought’ Mark Krence last week mind you…..ahem….
Who you got tonight in the Williams-Cintron bout? I’ve been absolutely leathering Sky Bet with my boxing bets this year but I might have to leave this one alone. I fancy Williams strongly, but can’t make up my mind whether he gets the stoppage or settles for points. There are some picking Cintron, if he lands that big right, he could be in business.
Williams in around seven. Cintron always has that puncher’s chance, so he’s in with a shout, but he’s mentally fragile in my view. I’ll never forget the way he collapsed in agony and almost started crying after his stoppage win over club fighter Jesse Feliciano (apparently, he damaged his hand during the bout). To me, top fighters should never react that way.
He also caved in far too easy twice against Margarito. Now granted, Tony might have been wearing his, ahem, “magic” pads that night, but it did seem that Cintron mentally gave up when Tony cranked up the pressure. Williams, in contrast, never looked like giving in when Margarito came on strong in their fight.
I think Williams overwhelms Cintron and stops him in the seventh.
LOL at that guy who “fought” Krence last week. I’ve been out of the ring for several years, but I’d have no doubt I could step into the ring tomorrow and beat him out of sight. He was abysmal.
In all seriousness, imagine if Hide was drawn against him. Something REALLY bad could have happened. The BBB of C need to examine things like this in the future. The last thing we need is another black eye for the sport.
I was thinking Williams around the ninth, rounds eight and nine are usually the tipping point for a fighter to cave in if they’re being dominated. I just have a nagging doubt he’ll survive to hear the scorecards.
Gotta love Williams, his attitude is top notch.
Talking of Swizz Tony, he’s fighting this weekend, he was one of my favourite fighters before the hand wrap thing, now, I’d like to see him banned. What makes it worse is that shit eating grin he has on every photograph.
I was thinking the same thing about that Prize Fighter dude, man that was extremely poor last week, bloody awful to sit through.
Hide looked shopworn in his brief appearance, if I were Frank Warren I’d make him an offer to fight Enzo.