Murray wins ugly fight over Garcia

The veteran middleweight has now won four in a row.

Middleweight contender Martin Murray’s hunt for a fifth world title shot is still on, as the 35-year-old veteran won a rather ugly decision over Mexico’s Roberto Garcia today in London.

Murray (37-4-1, 17 KO) took the win on scores of 116-111, 118-109, and 118-109, in a fight where Garcia (41-4, 24 KO) was docked two points, one each in the second and ninth rounds, one for low blows, and the other for punching the back of Murray’s head.

The victory is the fourth straight for Murray, while the loss snaps a 13-fight win streak for Garcia, which dated back to 2010. The win also gives Murray the WBC “silver” title, and keeps him solidly in the mix for that world title shot he wants.

Murray was supposed to be fighting for the WBO middleweight title on this date, but Billy Joe Saunders pulled out citing an injury. Murray has already faced Gennady Golovkin, and was soundly beaten by him back in 2015. But the IBF title will soon be up for grabs between Sergiy Derevyanchenko and someone else, potentially Daniel Jacobs, and if Saunders does move up to 168 to face James DeGale in September, as has been rumored, the WBO belt could come into play, too.

Time will tell, but today Murray picked up another one and kept himself in the discussion at the very least.