BoxRec

Thank goodness that was for the WBC Youth title, we often criticise these obscure championships, but that saved Murray from having a defeat on the title.

That swelling was bad. Just out of curiousity did Rahman vs Holyfield go to the cards? I wasn't sure if it went to the cards if it was a swelling and not a cut.

Murray fought like a an experienced pro when under pressure and hurt by Mendoza, who was an excellent test for John (can Warren bring him back for Mitchell and Khan please). Would like to see more variety in his work though and I do question if he has the power to fight his style. However, overall he passed the first test with flying colours.

I have to though criticise the interview after, "Do you think you were about to stop him?"....Sorry, but at the time of the stoppage Medoza had just wobbled Murray, a little harsh on Mendoza people assuming he was going to be stopped when he had just had one of his best (albeit brief) spell in the contest.

mendoza was no mug thats for sure, he looked fluid letting his shots go in the early rounds but i was convinced murray`s attritional work would break him especially when he began taking big gulps of air anytime the action stopped but the colombian surprised me by hanging in there and as you say stu, he looked to have murray in a bit of trouble just as the stoppage occured.
the fight was a real grueller and could have been fought in a telephone box never mind a ring.
murray`s a tough kid, at times its like watching a mini ricky hatton and he`ll give anyone an argument.

I agree, my worry for John though is his power only a 50% KO rate already plus I would like to see more movement.

It was a fine performance and Mendoza was a good opponent, but I do have to say my long term predictions are not quite what they were before tonight if I am brutally honest.

I saw certainly Khan and Murray as world championship material (world class potential). I don't know now if Murray will make it to that level. I can see him going to European title level but he would ship too many shots at the highest level.

Cannot say I was overly impressed with Mitchell last time out, still more impressed with Murray of the two - but I think Mitchell has the more natural potential. I would like to see more of Corcoran also - looked excellent vs Rutherford.

Khan though I think potentially wise is head and shoulders above them, but its the chin that is the worry for me about Khan.

Murray continues to impress me. I'm not going to make any outlandish claims for his future, because there are flaws there, and it is too early to tell how far he can go.

But my first thought, upon hearing who his opponent was, was that the kid is being handled well: Surely he's learnt more from that fight than the likes of Khan or Mitchell will in half a dozen mismatches? Who is Mitchell actually fighting next week, for example?

Agree with Stu, though: Murray could do with more variety, and maybe isn't powerful enough for the style he employs. However (And I make this point without trying to draw comparisons, although I think they're going to become commonplace before too long) I said the same thing about Hatton when I first saw him.

Now, anyone for Murray-Mitchell next year? I'd love to see that one.

stujones wrote:I agree, my worry for John though is his power only a 50% KO rate already plus I would like to see more movement.

It was a fine performance and Mendoza was a good opponent, but I do have to say my long term predictions are not quite what they were before tonight if I am brutally honest.

I saw certainly Khan and Murray as world championship material (world class potential). I don't know now if Murray will make it to that level. I can see him going to European title level but he would ship too many shots at the highest level.

Cannot say I was overly impressed with Mitchell last time out, still more impressed with Murray of the two - but I think Mitchell has the more natural potential. I would like to see more of Corcoran also - looked excellent vs Rutherford.

Khan though I think potentially wise is head and shoulders above them, but its the chin that is the worry for me about Khan.

yeah, i tend to agree with you but its early days for the lad, who would have thought that the ricky hatton that went to war with jon thaxton (who could bang i admit) would go on to beat a future HOF `er in zoo. by not getting spoonfed on the way up like some fighters murray will be under no illusions about the nature of the game and wont start to panic when he`s in with a guy who actually fights back.
his corner seemed to know the score and picked up on jim watts point that he cant afford to be in range and do nothing, get in and let your shots go or get out of range - he`s got to do one or the other.
with shrewd fella`s like that behind him i`m sure he`ll turn that fight into a positive learning experience and be a better fighter for it.

I think Murray is the sort of fighter who is going to get hurt throughout his career. His movement didn't look up to much last night, and his power doesn't appear to be anything special.

I thought it was a great test for Murray and he came through well. I do feel he neglected his jab which has been impressive in recent fights and tended to get too close to his opponent. Like Jim Watt said he need just to take half a step back to give himself more room to let the shots off.

He showed great awareness to hold on when he was rocked and that enabled him to recover well. I am not too worried about his power I think that will come as he matures he is only 20 and still looks like he will develop physically.

I think thre is no need to rush him a few more fights with opponents of this level would great for his development before moving on to bigger things.

It would be interesting to see how Mitchell would deal with Mendoza.

I was impressed by his bottle, the kid showed some balls to stay in and outslug Mendoza, don't forget the Colombian was 16-2-1 not a regular 1-16-2 like the others seem to be fighting. That was a nasty swelling he had, reminded me of Rahman-Holyfield a few years ago. I think that one did go the cards and Holyfield won a split, one of the women judges had Rahman winning if i remember correctly.

Looking at Mendoza's he has a good record. He has only been beaten by Leva Kirakosyan current WBF Champion and KO'd Carl Johanneson in 1 round. And he lost to Ivan Fiorletta by one point over 12 rounds in Italy - we all know what that means!

last night proved he still has plenty to learn.

if u wanna be cynical u could say he's a poor man's hatton. he's too straight up and as stu says, he doesn't quite carry the ammo to fight the way he does.

still one to watch though.

I got to put Murray as a better prospect of winning a major world title than Mitchell or Khan.

His 50% KO ratio is more down to the excellent match-ups he been put into, these are real learning fights which will really benefit him, not the fodder Mitchel and Khan are getting fed.

When Mitchel and Khan face anything like a dangerous opponent it will be years down the line and who`s to say they will have learnt enough to come through it when all they have been used to is dictating.

Murray has been matched in an excellent way so far, tough but sensible, lastnights fight was tougher than maybe he would have liked but what he learnt will hopefully stop him having to have such a hard fight for a long time.

The critism was his style does not make for a long career , that may well be so, but who`s to say he will not achieve all he needs to by an age most are still pushing to get recognised.

Good match, this youth title could be a bit of a revelation. If you get two ambitious youngsters going at it, the fights are going to be a lot more entertaining than seeing Murray roll over some old and faded fighters.

My T Sharp wrote:Good match, this youth title could be a bit of a revelation. If you get two ambitious youngsters going at it, the fights are going to be a lot more entertaining than seeing Murray roll over some old and faded fighters.

I'm afraid not - its seems like they make up the rules as they go along.

In June of this year, John "Buster" Keaton fought for the title. All 33 years of him.

http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=006156

stujones wrote:

My T Sharp wrote:Good match, this youth title could be a bit of a revelation. If you get two ambitious youngsters going at it, the fights are going to be a lot more entertaining than seeing Murray roll over some old and faded fighters.

I'm afraid not - its seems like they make up the rules as they go along.

In June of this year, John "Buster" Keaton fought for the title. All 33 years of him.

http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=006156

I'm stupid to think that the world organisations could come up with a decent non-world title

Had a look at the reports and the Youth title was only up for his opponent to win, so if Keaton won he wouldn't get the belt.

I think it is a 23 and under belt which gives the holder a top 15 WBC ranking. Very unlikely to find this set in stone though .

Murray looks good, that was a very tough fighter he fought. They wouldn't dream of putting Mitchell in with a guy like that, Khans only had a few fights so he's different. I think Murrays power is decent and will improve with his skill level and as he gets older...

I really like John Murray, love his work rate, style, attitude and balls.
My main concern is how stationary he is and how easy he is to hit. He simply does not posses the power to take one to give one.
He should not be putting miles on the clock this eary in his carreer.
I would pay good money to see him in with Kevin Mitchell. What a fight that would be. I'd strongly favor Mitchell with his extra power and natural ability.

I missed the end, was he really hurt / staggered? Still looks a great prospect from what I saw. Have to admire the confidence his camp have in him - a real decent test for such a young fighter.

Brave & ambitious matchmaking, the type we wont see in fighters like Mitchell and Khan for for a long time yet.

I like Murray a lot and its refreshing to see a young prospect actually fighting a geniune 'live' opponent rather than a journeyman half his size... theres room for improvement but all in all I think he will go far!...

MightyWarrior wrote:I missed the end, was he really hurt / staggered? Still looks a great prospect from what I saw. Have to admire the confidence his camp have in him - a real decent test for such a young fighter.

Brave & ambitious matchmaking, the type we wont see in fighters like Mitchell and Khan for for a long time yet.

he was briefly staggered by a counter punch in the 6th i think it was. when john keane stepped in to stop it, mendoza looked like he had troubled murray again briefly.

good timing from john keane in more ways than one.

hitman_hatton1 wrote:

MightyWarrior wrote:I missed the end, was he really hurt / staggered? Still looks a great prospect from what I saw. Have to admire the confidence his camp have in him - a real decent test for such a young fighter.

Brave & ambitious matchmaking, the type we wont see in fighters like Mitchell and Khan for for a long time yet.

he was briefly staggered by a counter punch in the 6th i think it was. when john keane stepped in to stop it, mendoza looked like he had troubled murray again briefly.

good timing from john keane in more ways than one.

Thanks, my tape ran out after rnd 5. I agreed with Watt, in that Mendoza looked to be throwing shots with decent power. Surprising he's only got a few ko's on his ledger.

stujones wrote:I agree, my worry for John though is his power only a 50% KO rate already plus I would like to see more movement.

It was a fine performance and Mendoza was a good opponent, but I do have to say my long term predictions are not quite what they were before tonight if I am brutally honest.

I saw certainly Khan and Murray as world championship material (world class potential). I don't know now if Murray will make it to that level. I can see him going to European title level but he would ship too many shots at the highest level.

Cannot say I was overly impressed with Mitchell last time out, still more impressed with Murray of the two - but I think Mitchell has the more natural potential. I would like to see more of Corcoran also - looked excellent vs Rutherford.

Khan though I think potentially wise is head and shoulders above them, but its the chin that is the worry for me about Khan.

I think what you're trying to say is Khan and Mitchell will be "Handled" better and probably wont fight a live body like Mendoza until they get a world title shot.

But murray has fought a lot of fighters that dont/hadly get stopped in there career.

buckley
Anthony Hanna
Mounir Guebbas (mitchell couldnt stop him)
Ernie Smith (rarely getts stopped)
Jason Nesbitt (rarely getts stopped)

anyhow good performance by murray. just needs to work on changing his tatics during the fight.

I don't think Murray was really hurt at the end except by the swelling which was bothering him understanderably. He needs to work on his defence and move his head more... he can't afford to simply walk in and take shots like he did against Mendosa... that will find him out eventually if he fails to improve on it

Mendoza was a good opponent who was dangerous.
Some people been a bit to critical on the kid regards power and his defence.
He is 20 years old the only 20 year old i have seen recentley with world class power was Mike Tyson.
Would like to see how Alex Arthur or Graham Earl would of done with Mendoza.