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By: William Holmes
Gennady Golovkin continued his reputation of a champion that actively defends his title as he faced Englishman Martin Murray at Salle des Étoiles, Monte Carlo, Monaco. This was the fourth time Golovkin defended his title since February of 2014.
Michael Buffer served as the ring announcer for this fight, as Murray was the first man to enter and Golovkin entered the ring last. The crowd appeared to be evenly split between Golovkin and Murray, but only an estimated 900 people were in attendance according to HBO.
The national anthems of the United Kingdom and Kazakhstan were sung after the fighters made their entrances.
Gennady Golovkin (31-0) defended his WBA, Interim WBC, and IBO World Middleweight titles against Martin Murray (29-1-1).
Murray appeared to be the slightly taller fighter as Golovkin took the center of the ring in the first round and worked behind his jab. Golovkin was patient in the first round and was moving Murray backwards with his jab, but Murray was calm and answering with body shots of his own. Golovkin began to open up with his punches in the last thirty seconds of round one.
Murray had a good second round and in fact landed more punches than Golovkin. Murray’s right hook was landing on the temple of Golovkin and he showed a surprising willingness to exchange combinations with Golovkin. When Golovkin looked like he was about to open up with a combination, Murray wisely tied him up to slow down the action.
Golovkin started off the third round moving behind his jab and he attempted to create an opening in the high guard of Murray. He was more active in the third round than in the second, and was finding his range and accuracy with his jab. Golovkin hurt Murray near the end of the round with a clean right cross.
Golovkin came out aggressive in the fourth round and was able to connect with a right hook to the body after trapping Murray near the corner. Murray had a delayed reaction from the punch and had to take one knee on the mat. When he got back up to his feet he was still breathing heavily and had to withstand the assault of Golovkin. Golovkin landed another shot to the body that forced Murray to hit the canvas again, but he was able to get back to his feet and survive the round.
Golovkin’s relentless pace continued in the fifth and sixth rounds as his body shots and short uppercuts were finding their way around the tight guard of Murray. Murray’s nose was busted open in the fifth round from a short uppercut and he was warned for low blows in the sixth round.
Golovkin had doubled the number of punches landed by Murray during the seventh round, and was seemingly landing combinations at will. Murray was able to land a good counter right cross, but it wasn’t enough to win the round.
Murray’s nose was gushing blood in the eighth round and Golovkin was throwing a lot of punches to the top of Murray’s head along with hard left uppercuts. Murray was hurt at the end of the eighth round when Golovkin cracked him with two left hooks.
Murray’s trainer warned him that he needed to stop Golovkin in the ninth round or he may lose the fight. Golovkin landed a beautiful right uppercut in the first minute of the round and he continued to just walk Murray down. However, Murray did connect with more counters in the ninth round than in previous rounds.
Murray started off the first minute of the tenth round well, but Golovkin stopped Murray’s offense with a clean straight right cross and went right back to walking Murray down and pummeling him with punches to the body and head. A straight right hand to the top of Murray’s head sent him to the mat as the round came to an end. It was the best knockdown of the night for Golovkin, and the referee went into Murray’s corner to ask him if he wanted to continue to and he asked the referee emphatically to not stop the fight.
Golovkin showed no mercy on Murray the start of the eleventh round and cracked Martin Murray with another right hand to the jaw that stunned him again and left him defenseless. The referee quickly jumped in and stopped Murray from taking any more punishment.
Gennady Golovkin scores another stoppage victroy by TKO at 2:10 of the eleventh round.
