Martin Murray v Roberto Garcia: So Near But Yet So Far.

Martin Murray v Robert Garcia:

By Richard Lewis

So Near But Yet So Far.

When a World Champion boxer pulls out of a title defence just a few weeks before the actual fight is due to take place the challenger is usually left high and dry, without an opponent, and wondering what might have been as another hard training camp seemingly goes to waste. This has almost been the case twice now with WBO Middleweight Champion Billy Joe Saunders pulling out of scheduled defences against Martin Murray citing injuries firstly to his hand and then his hamstring.

With the rescheduled date of June 23rd fast approaching you could feel Martin Murray’s anger and frustration when he himself broke the news on social media that Saunders was again injured and the fight was off. At 35 years off age he knows it would most probably have been his fifth and last world title shot, previous attempts seeing him fall short at both the Middle and Super-Middleweight classes against some of the divisions best of the last decade. He has come mightily close on two of them occasions though with his best efforts resulting in a draw against Felix Sturm in 2011 and a split decision loss to Arthur Abraham in 2015 both in Germany.

Thankfully on this occasion a replacement has been found at such short notice, and a very good one at that too with WBC silver champion Roberto Garcia stepping in to ensure that Murray gets a payday and also a very competitive fight. What I like about this fight is both men are seemingly coming towards the twilight of their careers but Garcia is not just another foreign boxer turning up for a payday, and on an unbeaten streak of 13 wins since 2010 will be doing all in his power to hold onto that WBC silver title and seemingly a potential shot at the full title which is currently still held by Middleweight king Gennady Golovkin, who Murray bravely lost to in 2015.

The Mexican Garcia protecting an impressive 41-3 record has been involved in a past Twitter spat with Murray further adding fuel to the fire that this fight has the potential to be a war. Murray as we know with his style is often involved in such fights and not afraid in coming forward regardless of who’s in front of him.

This has all the makings to be a classic and I’m looking forward to an exciting headline fight on June 23rd promoted by Frank Warren on a stacked card that also included Anthony Yarde, Daniel Dubois and Ohara Davies to name a few.