FightFranchise.com | Murray Destroys Thaxton In Four

Four months ago in Wigan, John Murray lost his British Title before he entered the ring when he weighed in 2 ounces over the 135lb limit. This weekend there were no mistakes as Mancunian Murray reclaimed his title in style by stopping former British and European champion Jon Thaxton in 4 rounds.

There had been some mind games going on in the build up to the fight, with Thaxtons own dad telling him not to fight Murray as Murray would knock him out, and Murray’s trainer Joe Gallagher saying that Thaxton was the favourite for the fight having been in with better fighters. Thaxton’s dad was proved right on the night.

Thaxton whose record is now 34-11(19) had talked about this being his last chance and a win meant he would keep the Lonsdale belt. Murray now 28-0 (16) would have been in the same position except for the weight issue in the Lawton fight. Murray who now looks likely to step to European level or World Level is unlikely to get a chance to keep a Lonsdale belt. The stakes for the fight were increased with Murray also being the mandatory for the European Title against Anthony Merzaache, so a win for Thaxton would have ruined Murray’s plans and give Thaxton a chance to reclaim the belt he lost to the Frenchman earlier this year.

Come the start of the main event, it was clear that Murray’s fans were going to try and give him as big of an advantage as possible by trying to turn the arena into a cauldron for Thaxton. The first round started with Murray starting off slow, allowing Thaxton to do all the work. Murrays defence held firm and anything Thaxton threw was taken on the gloves. In the 1st round Murray found it hard to get anywhere near Thaxton and Thaxton went in at the bell having won the round.

As the 2nd round was about to start Murray was up early and seemed keen to on. The 2nd round changed with Murray starting to dominate as the round went on. Thaxton was still working hard, but Murray was blocking most of his punches on the gloves. When Thaxton did land Murray seemed to walk through the punches. Murray landed a left hook which seemed to trouble Thaxton and as the round went on Murray started getting inside more and more. Whilst their Murray managed to start landing big combinations and Murray went in at the bell having dominated the round.

The 3rd round started with Thaxton using his jab to keep Murray at bay, yet Murrays defence held firm and it wasn’t long before Murray worked his way inside. Everytime Murray got inside he seemed to be catching Thaxton with ease and the punches seemed to be beginning to take their toll. The biggest punch of the fight was landed by Murray when he landed a big left uppercut which again seemed to rock Thaxton, before Murray finished the round by landing some nice accurate punches before the bell rang.

As the 4th Round started Murray seemed the fitter and stronger fighter yet Thaxton came out again trying to keep Murray on the outside. Murray worked his way inside again and the two fighters started to trade punches, with Murray’s punches seeming to be the more effective. Going into the last minute of the fight Murray landed a big clubbing right hook which sent Thaxton reeling into the ropes. Sensing Thaxton was in trouble Murray moved in for the finish. Three unanswered punches off Murray, with Thaxton weaving on the ropes , caused referee Howard Foster to step in and stop the fight with 30 seconds left of Round 4.

Thaxton had put in a brave performance and was happy to trade punch for punch with the younger Murray but it proved too much for him in the end. Claims were made by Thaxtons camp that the stoppage was premature, which is certainly a valid point, yet Murray’s dominance had grown with each round of the fight, and it seemed only a matter of when and not if he would stop Thaxton.

Now for the future, Thaxton had hinted at retirement if he lost to Murray, but with the stoppage he may feel he can still perform at British level. And with Murray likely to vacate the belt then one last crack at the British belt and the chance to keep the Lonsdale belt may entice Thaxton into staying in the fighting game. Murray, on the other hand, is the mandatory for Anthony Merzaache’s European belt and after a performance like that Murray, Gallagher and promoter Mick Hennessy must be confident of Murray beating Merzaache.

Chief support on the ITV bill of the Hennessy Sports promotion was unbeaten Scottish fighter Kris Hughes who took on Welsh fighter Dai Davies. Hughes was unbeaten in 8 fights but had never stopped an opponent to date, whereas Davies had previously won a Welsh area Super Featherweight title and too has a poor knock out record.

The fight was scheduled for 10 Rounds and on paper it certainly looked a fight that would last the distance. The first round started and it looked like both fighters were keen to put on a performance. A big left of Kris Hughes sent Davies to the canvas, although the Welshman was up on the count of four and seemed fine. Davies then returned and tried to take the fight to Hughes but Davies was caught by a big right which sent him to the canvas. The referee stopped the count on 6 with no signs of movement of Davies. Medical help arrived quickly and Davies was up and seemed fine within five minutes. Kris Hughes takes his record to 9-0 (1) and getting his first stop within the distance with a lovely punch.

Darlington’s Bob Ajisafe won on points 60-54 over Phil Goodwin of Hull. Ajisafe was having his first fight in 6 months since he narrowly beat Ovill McKenzie on points. Ajisafe won every round but did not look overly impressive. Goodwin landed the bigger punches in the first half of the fight, yet Ajisafe’s work was better to win him the rounds. In the 4th round Goodwin was bleeding from the nose and Ajisafe then started to up his work rate. Ajisafe’s best round was the 5th round when he wobbled Goodwin but the fight ended up going the distance and Ajisafe took his record to 8-1 (2) with his only defeat coming in the Prizefighter series against Carl Dilks.

Whilst the Ingle camp had a bad night with Jon Thaxton, things looked better with their other 2 fighters, heavyweight Richard Towers and bantamweight Kid Galahad. Towers, who stands at 6’8” was in his 4th professional fight and faced Michal Skierniewski of Stoke. Towers can move around the ring well for a big bloke and is relatively quick and needed to as Skierniewski wanted to make a fight of it. Towers tried to keep his opponent at bay with a left jab that he throws from the waist. Towers also keeps his hands low which could cause problems as he steps up in class. Tonight he had no problems as he beat Skierniewski after causing a cut to the left eye of the Stoke fighter. The doctor had a look at the cut at the end of the second round and stopped the fight.

Kid Galahad, of Yemeni descent, entered the ring for the 2nd time in his career. He boxed Pavel Senkovs, a Latvian boxing out of Mansfield. Galahad is a switch hitter, like many Ingle fighters and was impressive in the night. He landed on Senkovs throughout the fight, and despite Senkovs bravery the Sheffield fighter won on points by 40 – 36. Galahad threw a vast array of punches throughout the fight and also managed to avoid anything Senkovs returned at him.

Possibly the biggest surprise of the night was the opening fight of the card. Contested between Joe Gallaghers latest fighter, Danny Randall, and AbulTaher of Coventry. The Manchester based fighter had a loud following and faced a fighter with a record of 2-0 (0) for his debut.

The fight started off with both fighters happy to work inside and trade punches. The Manchester crowd were really rallying their debutant and Randall was just edging the early rounds. Randall did some good work in spells and when Taher was on the ropes he threw some good combinations to keep his opponent pegged back. In the 3rd round Taher came out and started to creep back into the fight. It seemed that Randall may have tired himself out trying to blast his opponent away and Taher took the 3rd round. Going in to the last round the scorecards were level with 1 round each and an even round. Randall came out and went back to his work rate of the early rounds to catch the referee’s eye with the higher work rate and better punches.

Randall looked impressive on his debut and has a good style which will enable him to keep his loud fanbase. Now he has his debut out of the way, he can build and move forward as part of a successful Gallagher’s gym, where after 2 titles in 8 days confidence is brimming.

Finally in a bout after the main fight, Phill Fury, cousin of Tyson Fury, beat Louis Bryne on points despite having a point deducted in the 3rd round for low blows.