Paul Smith vs Arthur Abraham and Martin Murray vs Gennady Golovkin: Boxing on TV this weekend
A look ahead to the busiest weekend of boxing in 2015 so far
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Your support makes all the difference.The busiest boxing weekend of 2015 so far features two British boxers competing for world titles away from home, while there are also comeback fights for two Heavyweight talents.
Abraham vs Smith, Saturday night 19:20, Sky Sports 3
Although Paul Smith’s first attempt at Arthur Abraham’s WBO super middleweight title was as deserving as Roy Keane winning the Nobel Peace Prize, the Liverpudlian fighter proved his naysayers wrong with a spirited, but losing performance.
Symbolising the often bizarre world of modern boxing, Smith has earned an immediate rematch simply because the scorecards of their first meeting were a little too generous for the champion. The majority who watched the fight scored it in favour of Abraham, but the 119-109, and two-times 117-111 cards from the judges was perhaps a little too excessive, and thus they will do it all over again in Berlin.
It is hard to see what will change in the return match however, as their inaugural fight, though intriguing was hardly a captivating affair. Abraham bossed the early stages, Smith rallied back well but there was a distinct lack of fireworks involved. Sadly, the place both of these fighters are at in their careers suggest another mediocre 12 rounds is upcoming. Smith hasn’t beaten an acceptable opponent since Tony Dodson in 2010, while Abraham had stopped just one fighter in his last 12 fights.
The bookies have Abraham as a clear ¼ favourite, with Smith available at around 3/1.
Elsewhere in Berlin, Heavyweight David Price continues the rebuilding phase of his career with his first match since June against Brazil’s Irineu Beato Costa Junior, and European Featherweight champion Josh Warrington faces journeyman Edwin Tellez.
Golovkin vs Murray, Saturday night 10.00pm, Channel 5
It is now almost seven years since the 31-0 Gennady Golovkin went the distance in a professional boxing match, and he puts his three world titles on the line against Martin Murray, whose third attempt at a winning the big one could be his hardest.
Murray traveled to Germany in a drawing effort with Felix Sturm in 2011, and arguably beat Sergio Martinez in Argentina back in 2013, but was not awarded the victory in South America. Those draws and defeats have strangely been the highlight of Murray’s career, who has not looked good in recent fights, though one can label his laboured performances down to poor motivation.
Any lack of effort against Golovkin, who carries an 18 fight KO streak heading into the bout, will be punished, but if any Middleweight can take what GGG has to offer, it is the St Helens man who has never been floored in his career, has a very solid defence, and knowledge of how to deal with the pressure of big matches.
Golovkin though is just a beast, whose power often belies his supreme boxing skills which earned him a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games, and an AIBA World Championships gold medal. He is as close to unbeatable as any boxer on the planet is, and always exciting to watch.
Despite Murray’s many attributes, he is a huge 10/1 underdog in this match, with Golovkin’s odds almost unbettable at 1/16. Perhaps the best wager a fan of Murray could place would be for the fight to go the distance, which is available at 5/1.
A solid undercard in Monaco features Lee Haskins, who has beaten former world champion Stuart Hall and current belt holder Jamie McDonnell in his career compete for the European Bantamweight title against French star Omar Lamiri, while the 14-0 20-year-old Heavyweight Hughie Fury has a tough return to the ring when he meets 24-1 Andriy Rudenko who gave Lucas Browne a difficult evening last year.
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