Three changes of opponent, with Nuhu Lawal stepping in at a couple of days? notice to take the fight, probably did nothing to assist Martin Murray in his fight preparations.
But in Monte Carlo, last night, Murray overcame the hurdle of seeing fights against Arthur Abraham and Dmitri Chudinov fall through, to beat the German based boxer via a points decision over twelve entertaining rounds to take the vacant WBA Continental super-middleweight title.
Murray, who has previously unsuccessfully fought four times for a world title, had to withstand some eager, rather than skilful, lunges forward by his opponent and pick him off with single punches.
Indeed it could be said that Lawal was the busier fighter for all twelve rounds but the fact that he was missing with so many punches allowed Murray to steal the rounds.
Having used so much energy it was no surprise that Lawal faded in the latter rounds and Murray was able to pick his opponent off with some crisp punches.
Although Murray was deducted a point for a low blow in the final round, the judges thought he?d done enough to score the fight:
? 116 ? 111
? 117 ? 110
and
? 117 ? 110
Personally I though the fight was a touch closer than the scoring.
The win takes Murray?s record to 34-4-1 with 16 wins coming by way of stoppage whilst Lawal sees his professional record slip to 23-1 with 13 wins coming by knockout.
Now whether Murray can get a fifth attempt at a world title remains to be seen but if he does he?ll probably need to fight a stiffer opponent than Lawal although Lawal was an unbeaten fighter ahead of the bout last night.
Murray Beats Lawal on Points
