Martin Murray vs. Domenico Spada: Preview and Prediction for Middleweight Bout
This Saturday night in Monte Carlo, top-10 middleweight Martin Murray of England returns to action against Italy's Domenico Spada.
These are a couple of well-traveled middleweights, and there's a lot on the line here. A win for Spada over Murray would significantly boost the journeyman's career. Murray needs to win to keep his place in line for a future title shot.
Spada has everything to gain, and Murray has a lot to lose.
Tale of the Tape
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| Per Boxrec | Martin Murray | Domenico Spada |
| Record: | 28-1-1, 12 KOs | 39-5 (19) |
| Height: | 6'0" | 5'9" |
| Reach: | 73" | Unlisted |
| Weight: | 160 lbs | 160 lbs |
| Age: | 32 | 34 |
| Stance: | Orthodox | Orthodox |
| Hometown: | Merseyside, United Kingdom | Rome, Italy |
| Rounds: | 170 | 256 |
Domenico Spada has a slight edge in the number of fights and rounds, but Murray has faced the slightly better competition He fought world champions on two occasions and acquitted himself well.
Murray is relatively tall and long for a middleweight, and Spada is compact. His reach is unlisted, but he doesn't look to have the reach equal to Murray's 73 inches.
Main Storylines
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Martin Murray has fought twice for world titles and came very close to walking away with the belt both times. In December 2011 he went to Germany to face WBA champion Felix Sturm. It was a major step up in competition, but Murray came away with a draw.
In April 2013 he went to Argentina to face lineal champion Sergio Martinez. Fighting in a rainstorm, Murray knocked Martinez down in Round 8 and lost a narrow unanimous decision.
In my opinion, a ruled slip should have been a second knockdown for Murray. If it had been, Murray would have won the decision on my card.
Domenico Spada has been a borderline contender for several years now but has stumbled against upper-level competition. He was knocked out by Marco Antonio Rubio last April. He lost to Darren Barker in 2011 and twice to Sebastian Zbik in 2009 and 2010.
Spada is a wild, brawling fighter, and Murray is a rugged boxer who can mix it up. This has the ingredients to be an exciting fight.
Strengths
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Martin Murray is a solid technical boxer with durability. He puts together good scoring combinations and does particularly well at doubling up his lead hook to the body and head.
He works off his jab and uses the punch to set up his straight right.
Domenico Spada is a rough and aggressive pressure fighter. He fights in a crouch, making himself into a small target, and uses level changes well to make himself smaller. He's tough to hit in the body.
Spada also does a good job of attacking and then taking away his opponent's space to counter by crashing inside. He's a bruising, physical opponent.
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Weaknesses
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Martin Murray relies on a high guard for the majority of his defense, blocking punches. He employs very little head movement.
He tends to fight at a predictable pace and often leaves space to be countered over the top of his jab or lead hook.
Domenico Spada relies too much on wide, wild punches. He throws a lunging, overhand right that's easy to see coming.
Against Marco Antonio Rubio last April he lunged badly out of position in Round 10, leaving himself wide open for Rubio to knock him out with a left hook.
Martin Murray Will Win If...
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This is Martin Murray's fight to lose. If he fights as well in this one as he did against Sergio Martinez and Felix Sturm, he should prevail.
Against Domenico Spada, his major challenge is going to be to maintain enough space to extend and score fully with his punches. That will mean establishing the jab early and doing everything from behind it.
Murray is a very good body puncher, but he should be cautious about throwing his lead hook downstairs on Spada. Not only is Spada a small, crouching target, but he also favors the leaping overhand right, an ideal punch to throw over the top of a hook down low.
Murray should look to set up his lead hook to the body off the straight right or the right uppercut. He should also try to catch Spada lunging into bad positions, then step around him and bang him to the ribs.
Domenico Spada Will Win If...
6 of 7The biggest problem I saw with Domenico Spada in his knockout loss to Marco Antonio Rubio last April was that he didn't move into range behind his jab, instead lunging forward behind wide punches. Against a tall, long fighter like Murray, he's going to need to use the jab to get into range.
Spada should look to double up the jab while dropping his level and slipping under Murray's jab. Once he's inside Murray's punches, he can let loose with his bigger punches, using his momentum to carry him crashing into Murray.
The swing and miss that got Spada knocked out against Rubio last April looked completely amateurish. He needs to make it a brawling, physical fight against Murray. That's his style and his strength.
But he has to tighten up a little bit. If he is continually lunging out of position, Murray will pick him apart.
Prediction
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Martin Murray doesn't have the same kind of one-punch power that Marco Antonio Rubio has, so I don't expect to see him beat Domenico Spada by the same sort of sudden stoppage. But Murray is a durable boxer who will have no problem standing up to Spada and exploiting his sloppiness.
Spada will land his punches in spots, but it will cost him to do it, and as the fight goes on, Murray's ability to connect at a higher percentage will be significant. Spada is not a knockout artist, and Murray can take a punch.
So Murray's higher skill level is going to carry him to victory here fairly easily. He'll exploit his length and work over Spada behind the jab.
This bout will go the distance, but Murray will win by wide margins.
Murray has been refused a visa to the United States in the past due to legal problems that are now nearly a decade old. He's a fighter I've interviewed before, and my impression is that he's turned his life around.
But the issue has limited his opportunities. If he can get approval for a visa moving forward, he should have a chance for some big fights. If not, perhaps Murray's promoter, Ricky Hatton, can lure newly crowned IBF champion Jermain Taylor to England for a defense.
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