Preview - Crolla vs Perez / Murray vs Abraham
- britishboxingblog
- Nov 19, 2015
- 3 min read
With a North East show taking place on our doorstep, that we have mentioned once or twice, we’ve barely had any time to focus on the rematch between Anthony Crolla and Darleys Perez this Saturday. Or Martin Murray travelling to Germany to take on former Middleweight ruler “King” Arthur Abraham. It seems odd that I'm previewing two world title fights in one short article but we feel they deserve a mention, as well as all the local goings on.
We were both ringside in Manchester for the first Crolla-Perez clash, as my colleague mentioned in his preview of Jenkins-Nurse II (another cracking rematch), and we both felt that the Manchester man had done enough to secure the victory. You’d think then, that under the tutelage of Joe Gallagher, the rematch would be a mere formality. Crolla now has the confidence of knowing he can mix with the best and has felt what Perez had to dish out. The atmosphere that night in July was fantastic and will surely be so again, especially with the injustice of the first fight fresh in the minds of the fans. He also hurt Perez so will take great heart from that as he looks to repeat arguably his best ever performance.
One point that is up for debate though is whether or not that was the best Darleys Perez. There has been a lot of talk about different versions of fighters matching up against different styles. See the almost tiresome comparisons of Kiko Martinez this week as an example. I fully feel that Perez underestimated his opponent, and the overall occasion, in the summer and would be foolish to make that mistake again. The Colombian is a top level operator who was much fancied to beat “Million Dollar” Crolla in their first encounter however he never seemed to get to grips with him. He looked lost at times, hence the desperation that led to points deductions, but there is much debate on whether he will make the same mistakes twice. He will no doubt come to the ring more aware of Anthony Crolla as well as knowing he can improve on his own performance. It is beautifully poised and while we hope the Manc pulls it off, I wouldn’t be surprised if it is a lot closer than their previous encounter. Yet not scored as a draw!
The other Matchroom fighter looking to capture a world title is St Helens’ Martin Murray. No stranger to fighting abroad, Murray has battled bravely away from home against Felix Sturm (draw), Argentine Sergio Martinez (decision) and current 160 pound supremo Gennady Golovkin (TKO rd 11). Hopefully it will be fourth time lucky for Murray who has moved up to Super Middleweight in his quest for global success. Personally, I see this as his most winnable contest. Although it won’t be easy. Martin isn’t renowned for his one punch knockout power and it is notoriously difficult to win a decision in Germany. Abraham does however like to “nick” rounds by fighting in short bursts, normally towards the end, to catch the judges attention. There are doubts about his ability to maintain a high pace for the full 36 minutes which will definitely play into Murray’s favour. If he can start faster than he did in Buenos Aires and continue to press the action he could pull off the upset and get the win.
Despite the magnitude of their respective tasks, here at BBB we are looking forward to a terrific weekend of boxing and hope that by Sunday morning we are celebrating two more British world champions.
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