Billy Joe Saunders 167.3, Murray 167.4 in London, England
By Carlos Costa
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 04 Dec 2020
British WBO super middleweight world champion Billy Joe Saunders will be making the 2nd defense of his belt against compatriot Martin Murray Friday, December 4 (early Saturday in Manila) at the famed Wembley Arena in England.
The champion Saunders weighed-in at 167.3 pounds, while the challenger Murray came-in at 167.4 lbs, both men looking in great shape, ready to rumble. đź‘Ť
The clash will be the 2nd world title defense for Billy Joe Saunders (29-0, 14 KO’s), who comes into this fight with an impeccable undefeated record as well as vast experience.
Notably, Saunders and Murray will climb the ring after a whole year of inactivity, fans wondering if the ring rust factor could affect any of them or both.
Martin Murray (39-5-1, 17 KO’s) is a 38-year-old veteran fighter who has already unsuccessfully contested 3 times for world titles against high-caliber warriors Kazakhstan’s Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, German Arthur Abraham and Argentine Sergio MartĂnez.
Does Murray have enough in his fighting arsenal to beat Saunders to the punch?
Saunders poses during Thursday's weighin in London.
Fans in the U.K. want to watch Billy Joe Saunders checking his battling quality against a tough matured boxer as Martin Murray; they want to see how the war unfolds and how will it end.
However, to most fans Martin Murray is not a serious threat to Saunders. Many doubt that he can dethrone the trash-taker. But Saunders is a trash-taker who backs his mouth with win after win. Will that be the same today?
Also, Murray lacks explosive punch in his weaponry, plus, at 38 years of age, it’s seems that his best fighting years are in the back mirror.
Opinion: Billy Joe Saunders should win. Because he is the freshest, youngest fighter, with right smarts, outstanding skills, as well as boxing maturity, so I think that once the rust is shaken off, Saunders should impose his quality and power to win comfortably over Murray tomorrow in England, retaining Saunders his 168-pound belt.
Then, should Saunders win as we think, he might be next in line to battle popular Mexican Champion Canelo Alvarez in a super middleweight unification war. That would be an excellent fight, I’m sure.
For that, Canelo needs to beat his December 12 opponent Briton Callum Smith.
Will Canelo and Saunders emerge victorious from their respective battles for them to clash in 2021?
Saunders vs Murray today Friday in London is a promotion of Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing live on DAZN.
The author boxing writer Carlos Costa lives in Cebu and can be reached at carlos512@hotmail.com and WhatsApp +639184538152.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Carlos Costa.
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