Warner Brothers TV has been showing quite a few middleweight fights from the 2010s over the past two days, including Andy Lee vs. Craig McEwan and Sergio Martinez vs. Darren Barker/Matthew Macklin. When you survey the middleweight landscape for the Brits and Irish of that era and you add in other names, like Martin Murray, Billy Joe Saunders, Chris Eubank Jr., and Liam Williams at the tail end, you see that it was a good era for the Isles. My question is: If you put all of those British and Irish names into a tournament, who comes out on top?
Saunders for skill, but he was undisciplined hence being a middleweight. I go for Murray. Macklin swerved him, Prime Golovkin took 10 or 11 rds to do the job and Murray did well at world level. Lee and Barker were average although the round robin that we all wanted between those two and Macklin and Murray would have been exciting.
Saunders on boxing ability but Murray had most of the best performances in the ring when in his prime against World Class opponents. Thought he beat both Martinez and Sturm away from home plus he showed real balls in the fight with Golovkin when many a Brit could not find their pen.
It defies logic, doesn't it? Those would have been interesting match-ups no matter how you paired them.
Macklin ducked Murray by pulling the I am above you card and i am world level despite not looking as good as Martin on the world stage. Macklin looked like he had been shot when Gennady broke him in half. Gennady looked like he needed a gun to get Martin out of there. Martin really wanted that fight as he did not like him. Darren beat a weak holder in Geale and he did not talk or chase those fights up.
Though unlikeable I have to say Saunders. I think he beats all of those fighters. I really want to say Murray but I’d be lying to myself.
Saunders record is trash. Struggled with Eubank and Lee and obliterated by Canelo. Aside from that his best win is Lemieux. He had one of the worst world title runs in modern times and is grossly overrated. The best boxer on that list is Andy Lee and by some distance.