Is Murray ready for the M.E.N. Arena?

[Autobarn]

a lot of us were saying that before spud about "meaty mick" - prioritising lesser lightweights over murray.

spud's line used to be that murray was being mismanaged and ruined by - the implication was - the sinister, domineering joe gallagher.

now he's being badly promoted.

[bigdaddy]

a lot of us were saying that before spud about "meaty mick" - prioritising lesser lightweights over murray.

spud's line used to be that murray was being mismanaged and ruined by - the implication was - the sinister, domineering joe gallagher.

now he's being badly promoted.

[bennie]

Manchester machine John Murray makes the first defence of his European lightweight title Ukraine’s tough and experienced Andriy Kudriavtsev in Altrincham next month (September 25).
Murray won the title with a late stoppage of gutsy Welshman Gary Buckland earlier this year in Widnes and the former Young Boxer of the Year, still only 25, was recently awarded a WBC final eliminator against Mexico’s Daniel Estrada. At 29-0 (17), Murray looks set for big things. He reminds me of Jim McDonnell, the former world class super-featherweight of the low pulse rate who threw wave after wave of shots and really came into his own in the later stages of a 12-rounder. Murray, too, brings great workrate and stamina to every fight - and hits harder than McDonnell. He graduated to the European title after a hot domestic run, retiring one or two domestic 'names' from the game.
The 33-year-old Kudriavtsev, a pro since June 1999, has a record that reads win, win, win to secure a big fight like this – a big fight he then loses. He was narrowly outscored by Anthony Mezaache in a previous stab at the European lightweight title last year in France (Mezaache subsequently relinquished), having previously outscored Mezaache in a non-title affair, and was stopped by Canada’s tasty Paulus Moses in nine bruising rounds 2007 in an attempt to gatecrash the world ratings. Somewhat surprisingly, Kudriavtsev is not well-travelled with only three appearances outside the Ukraine in his 40 fights (33 wins), so he looks up against it.
The challenger is good enough to take Murray the full 12 rounds, but the frenetic local man looks set to retain.

[Autobarn]

i'm going for murray by stoppage. kudriavtsev is solid but appears a little fragile and i think he'll bust up, against a maybe peaking murray. kudriavtsev is well schooled, patient and methodical. i think he'll give ground against the stronger, home fighter and lose the initiative.

a worthy european title fight.

[whiskey]

Murray vs Rees would be a fight that with the right promotion, could make a splash in a large venue.

[Autobarn]

on the other hand, is rees a hot fighter, if he had to go in prize fighter?

look at all those prize fighter winners who seemingly disappeared.

at one point some felt murray v rees could have been a good elim fight for one of the titles. i think with the WBC elim, and the hope of a fight with katsidis, that rees might not be a priority.

rees v buckland would be a non stop war. rees winning prize fighter and buckland's exceptionally brave defeat to murray. surely that's the kind of domestic fight sky should be showing, and if they could get a title for it (and i mean something better than a celtic title).

[Autobarn]

Murray vs Rees would be a fight that with the right promotion, could make a splash in a large venue.

rees is the british mandatory now, but i wonder if murray will have moved on. if the watson-brawley elim goes ahead, i'd love to see rees v buckland.

[whicker]

i'm going for murray by stoppage..

Yeah, or a very one sided points win for Murray. Either way, a somewhat dominant fight by Murray.

The opponent just isn't that good (going off his record.)

[HomeOfBritishBoxing]

murray deffo wont fight ress, he is past that level, katsidis says if marquez vacates and fights khan, he will fight murray in england! that will be one of the greatest fights on these shores in my opinion.

[mickey1975]

murray deffo wont fight ress, he is past that level, katsidis says if marquez vacates and fights khan, he will fight murray in england! that will be one of the greatest fights on these shores in my opinion.

What level?Rees(correct spelling) is a former world champ who would give any lightweight nightmares.

[Coco]

I fancy Rees to beat Murray, can't see Murray taking it, fat to much risk for not enough reward.

[$wifty]

Top fighter Murray. Get him a decent undercard and why not?

[Lenny]

I think Rees v Murray would be a fantastic fight. I favour Murray to be just too strong after a long hard fight and maybe stop Rees late but it would be a cracker. Unfortunately, as has been said, too much risk for too little reward, although Murray seems to love a tear up so who knows, me might fancy it if the bigger fights aren't available right away?