Murray: "I'm looking to do a number on Thaxton"

[Autobarn]

If Thaxton loses, but puts in a good showing, does anyone think he'd be back in the British title mix?

yeah i reckon, just about

question for all:

*if* Murray does step up that level who are the candidates to replace him? are we looking at the likes of McAllister/ Thaxon / Meager and other old-guarders..

or is there a new guard ready to step up? like that Prizefighter winner forgotten his name... etc?

yeah, perhaps ryan brawley could also be a factor - seems talented & tough enough. gary buckland, i would add to the list - buckland beat maloney's top lightweight & i believe is a hatton fighter hence the potential for sky sports tv dates. (i think joe gallagher wanted buckland as john fewkes' replacement - that would have been interesting last year). i suppose the 2 scotsmen mcallister (commonwealth champ) and limond could also be factors. i reckon it would depend strongly on who can get TV interested, who has a promoter with a contract, or who can land an opponent with a TV contract, etc. looks like meager is done since the stoppage loss that began murray's reign of terror. johanesson's a very crowd pleasing fighter and i think he might be ready to move up to lightweight.

[Counter-puncher]

shit, Fewkes, another one to add to the list, Buckland too, good call mate

[Autobarn]

Not a good matchup now, Thaxton just lost to a journeyman in his last fight and was outhustled for his euro belt before that. Murray will win easy.

still a good matchup considering thaxton's ability to make dramatic comebacks.

thaxton's last fight at ligthweight was a scintillating battle with euro level mezaache. thaxton essentially blew him out in one round, or would have if not for mouthpiece antics. still, he only lost by a point or two on the cards, and 2 of the late rounds had riveting exchanges. can anyone name a better euro level fight from that year?

murray v mezaache would be more meaningful, but come on, murray v thaxton will be a better spectacle.

[alexpaterson]

I think he'll win by stoppage in the 6th Thaxton might cause him problems with his expierence but Murray's fitness and strenght will win him the fight I see Thaxton getting dropped a few times before getting stopped. I like Murray I hope after this he fights for the Euro against Meezache I think he could beat him

[jamesmcdonnell]

does anyone know what they weighed in at, it was at the arndale centre at 1, i cant find it anywhere on the internet.

Both 9st 8lb, give or take an oz. I interviewed Dominic Ingle, Jon Thaxton and Joe Gallagher, will post a link once they are up.

I wouldn't mind seeing Murray get his wish of a Katsidis fight, it would be guaranteed to live up to expectations.

Providing Jon can take a shot, and we've seen nothing to say he cant, that fight would be superb. "they could do this in a phone box" - would be the comment at some point.

It would be stipulated in the contract that the phrase is used at least five times. Twice each and one more for the winner, who would phone home to tell them he lumped him.

From an antique red london phonebox installed at ringside.

[jamesmcdonnell]

From an antique red london phonebox installed at ringside.

The piss on the floor will be reminiscent of Andrew 'Six Heads' Lewis' recent efforts. Ring girls can be the brasses who put their cards up in the gaps in the box. The blind-drunk tramp lying slumped against can be the sole judge, to be fair he'd probably do a better job than most.

The ref will be Dixon of Dock Green, who will break up the clinches by pinching the ear of the offending boxer, whilst chiding him "Now then, now then, we'll have no more of that argy-bargy, I'll be having a word with your mother about this."

[Autobarn]

my mate gets his ear pinched, by his boss at work

[Counter-puncher]

who was that wrestler in the 1980s, who was deaf and dumb, and his whole gimmick was, you could do all sorts to him, suplexes, kick in the balls, drop wet cement on his head, you name it, and he would endure all with a slightly simian stolidness.

but god help you if you twisted his ears he went mental. i think his name was Alan something?

[jamesmcdonnell]

who was that wrestler in the 1980s, who was deaf and dumb, and his whole gimmick was, you could do all sorts to him, suplexes, kick in the balls, drop wet cement on his head, you name it, and he would endure all with a slightly simian stolidness.

but god help you if you twisted his ears he went mental. i think his name was Alan something?

Sounds like the dude in 'there's something about Mary.'

[Wax On]

does anyone know what they weighed in at, it was at the arndale centre at 1, i cant find it anywhere on the internet.

I was there too. Not been to many weigh ins, but I thought Thaxton looked really drawn. Maybe struggling to make the weight again? Always amazes me how much they can put on in 24 hours!!

[Autobarn]

He'll rehydrate, have power and sharpness early, then I think - like with the Mezaache fight - he'll get sluggish. The thing is, Murray won't be running like Mezaache was at times. Murray will likely be in punching range.

I don't think we've seen Murray go past 7 rds, not in a championship fight. Reckon Murray - with his pressure style - probably gets better and better as the fight goes on. What I'm saying is, we might see his absolute best work if the fight goes long. The late rounds pressure. If this happens, at a time in the fight that Thaxton loses his way, Thaxton might get a late beating.

As I'm a big Murray fan, I will be tense in the first few rounds, as Thaxton can be devastating early on - as seen in the Melero and Mezaache fights.

[Autobarn]

ouch, alex arthur going up to light welter. thyroid problems, and apparently with thorough training he can get down to 140. shame, as he could have fit in really well on the british/euro lightweight scene, and would have been a nice stepping stone for someone like murray.

[bynino]

is this on ITV4?

[Deserter]

He'll rehydrate, have power and sharpness early, then I think - like with the Mezaache fight - he'll get sluggish. The thing is, Murray won't be running like Mezaache was at times. Murray will likely be in punching range.

I don't think we've seen Murray go past 7 rds, not in a championship fight. Reckon Murray - with his pressure style - probably gets better and better as the fight goes on. What I'm saying is, we might see his absolute best work if the fight goes long. The late rounds pressure. If this happens, at a time in the fight that Thaxton loses his way, Thaxton might get a late beating.

As I'm a big Murray fan, I will be tense in the first few rounds, as Thaxton can be devastating early on - as seen in the Melero and Mezaache fights.

Thaxton's best days are undoubtedly behind him and it's his incredible mental strength that seems to be allowing him to maintain his career at this level. However, I think your interpretation is the right one - Thaxton will try and establish himself early, but Murray will meet him head on and his youthful energy will see him grinding Thaxton down for a stoppage around the ninth in my opinion.

[Autobarn]

weigh in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru0I6qjdg2k

ITV4 televising tonight, for all those who've been living under a rock

this could be a really good fight to kick off an eventful month of boxing

[MightyWarrior]

Unbelievable to think how long Jono has been around, 17 years a pro and still going - when he turned pro John Major was the PM and more importantly, Harry Mullan was still editing the great boxing news. Harry liked Thaxton, I think he predicted Jono would flatten srap iron Ryan inside a round, which he did. Or something like that.

Just read this review by the best in the business Graham Houston, over at fightwriter

http://www.fightwriter.com/?q=home



JOHN MURRAY vs JON THAXTON - Graham Houston

After losing his British lightweight title on the scales in June, John Murray attempts to win back the championship when he meets veteran Jon Thaxton on Saturday, with TV coverage on ITV4 in the U.K.

It looks bad when a young fighter such as Murray fails to make weight, but he was only marginally over the limit and it seemed more a mix-up than anything. As I understand it, he was delayed in traffic, got to the weigh-in later than anticipated and didn’t have enough time to shed the slight excess.

There was nothing wrong with Murray’s performance that night as he overpowered game journeyman Scott Lawton in six rounds.

Saturday’s fight with Thaxton is for the vacant title. Thaxton also held the title but he relinquished it to focus on the European championship, which he won at the second attempt a year ago.

Had Thaxton fought Murray then it would have been a much more intriguing contest. The bout has lost some of its attractiveness after two successive losses suffered by Thaxton, but it has interest — a respected, long-serving professional going in against an unbeaten fighter who has stopped his last three opponents.

Murray, 24, is a busy-punching pressure fighter from Manchester in northwest England who wears down his opponents. Thaxton, 35, from Norfolk in eastern England, has far greater experience and has fought much tougher opposition, including a blood-spattered points defeat against Ricky Hatton nine years ago.

Thaxton moved down from the light-welter division to box as a lightweight in 2002 and for a while he seemed to be boxing than ever, with 12 wins in a row, but Yuri Romanov was too strong and talented for him in their European title fight. Although a cut over Thaxton’s eye caused the fight to be halted it seemed that he was on his way to getting stopped.

To Thaxton’s great credit, he came back with a spectacular win in his next fight when bombing out Juan Carlos Diaz Melero in three rounds to win the European title, which Romanov vacated in the hope of boxing in a world title eliminator.

Just when it seemed that Thaxton was back at the top of his form, things went wrong. First, Thaxton was outhustled by Frenchman Anthony Mezaache to lose the European title and then, in a catchweight bout, he lost again, although narrowly, when the much bigger Tom Glover proved a bit too strong for him.

Saturday’s fight is a last chance for Thaxton. If he loses there will be nowhere to go, and I am expecting him to come into the ring prepared to give a big-hearted and determined effort.

Murray is the clear favourite — he is younger, undefeated and in fine form, and he also has home advantage at Altrincham in Greater Manchester. This fight is not a formality, though. Thaxton is a good puncher, and he has an unorthodox cleverness, a southpaw who frequently switches to the orthodox posture and throws punches from unexpected angles.

I am expecting Murray to go forward, gloves up, in his usual manner and seek to break down the older man with pressure and body punches. Murray can be a bit hittable, though, and Thaxton is surely the heaviest puncher that he has faced. Although Thaxton lost to Mezaache he had the French fighter down and almost out in the first round. Murray had better make sure that he keeps a tight guard in this fight or he could find himself on the floor.

The early rounds will most likely be the ones in which Thaxton is at his most dangerous, but Murray knows this and I don’t think he will charge in recklessly. Thaxton might win most of the early rounds but I think that Murray will start to take over after the fight goes past the midway mark, when his relentless pace and fast, high-volume punching should begin to tell on an opponent who has been boxing professionally for almost 17 years. I’ll take Murray to grind down Thaxton in nine, perhaps 10, rounds.

[WildWaylon]

I am a bit surprised Jon Thaxton still got this fight after his last defeat. Murray will win without a doubt but Thaxton is tough so it will be a difficult night for Murray. Points or late stoppage.

[chesh]

Really looking forward to this one. I'm a fan of both fighters, but want Murray to win, as he's got his career ahead of him (plus the fact I'm also a Manc). Jono has obviously seen better days, has a lot of scar tissue and his balance is not what it was, but he does have a puncher's chance - which means this matchup, although coming a little late in the day, still has the potential to be a thriller.

After giving it all he's got, I see Thaxton being stopped either by the ref or the intervention of his corner in about 8 rounds. In another exciting performance, Murray will again show his potential to go well beyond domestic level.

[J]

if anyone has alink to a stream for this would be great dont get itv here

pm please if you do
thanks ever so much in advance

[opticald]

market uploaded on betfair

[J]

thanks