The Sportspedia
Wembley Arena, Wembley, England
-An All-English fight for the World Boxing Organization World Super Middleweight Title saw Billy Joe Saunders defeat Martin Murray
-The “Canelo” Álvarez/Smith winner could be next
-Martin Murray announces a desire to retire
A fight that could have happened in the Middleweight Division a couple of years ago finally happened in the Supper Middleweight and it was Billy Joe Saunders that clearly won.
Billy Joe Saunders was able to correctly manage his distance and to be spot on with his punches. Slick with his jab, precise with his straights. The fight followed the same tonic for the first four rounds and Murray was knocked down after one of the usual series of shots that Saunders would connect him, specifically a 1-2-3 combination.
Saunders increased his pace on the fifth as now Martin Murray started to retreat, which allowed Saunders to connect more combinations but Murray held on and made Saunders go back to the previous rhythm in the sixth.
The referee gave Murray some time to recover after a low blow by Saunders in the 8th. The rest of the round consisted of good punches by Saunders and clinches.
The ninth saw a confident Saunders connecting long-distance hooks and uppers. Most shots landed successfully. Murray landed some good ones in the tenth but not enough to give him the round.
Saunders continued to be better in the last two and he displayed a fantastic performance. The judges’ scorecards had all wide and unanimous scores for Saunders. He has not lost a fight in the United Kingdom since he was 12 years-old.
With this win and display, Billy Joe Saunders gets in the mix of the possible next opponents for the winner of the fight between Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez (MEX) and Callum Smith (ENG), which will take place December 19th. The winner of that fight would be the favorite but Saunders has the skill to make it very difficult for any of those two.
After the fight Saunders said that he had some timing issues but he actually looked quite well. Martin Murray indicated that he has had fight World Title fights and that his body is probably not ready for a sixth and he wants to spend time with his families, indicating that retirement is the likely option.
