A spirited boxer from Scotland who moved to Canada and then the United States, Murray Sutherland proved himself to be a very tough and talented contender. He beat several good fighters and gave galant efforts against Michael Spinks and Saad Muhammad. He was constantly moving and throwing punches. Always in good shape. Had decent power and worked off the classic 1-2-3 combo.
No one took on fights on 2 weeks notice more than Sutherland ( Hearns and Spinks) , more as well as that is off the top of my head. It was his nitch. He was a tough as it gets. Both Saad and Hearns have mentioned Murray as one of their toughest fights ever. Exciting to watch, Sutherland was a tough SOB
He fought damn near EVERYBODY. I haven't seen much of him, but his record stands for itself... I used a bit of footage of him against Robbie Sims for a highlight reel, but I haven't seen the full fight up anywhere (really wish that Rich would upload all those fights he has, in full). In less than 9 years as a pro, he fought: Richie Kates Michael Spinks x2 Matthew Saad Muhammad Eddie Davis Robbie Sims Thomas Hearns James Kinchen Chong Pal Park Wilfred Scypion Bobby Czyz Lindell Holmes Very prolific, very tough, great road warrior.
I wrote to him when one of the major state commissions used to send out the addresses of every boxer who had fought there in the last 20 years. Well, I wrote to them asking if they could forward my kayo boxong card to someone I cannot remember but they returned the card, along with the next best thing: a list of addresses of the boxers who had fought there the last 20 years. Each of them. And so I started sendng kayo cards to all of them. This was in 1995, before I started using local writer Norm Framheimer's column to actually meet boxers in person! Anyways, i did not have a Murray Sutherland Kayo Boxing card but I wrote to him and asked for a photo...boy did he step up! Not only did HE send an autograph photo but Butterbean and Rocky Gannon (neither of whom i had not asked for an autograph) did too! Can you imagine my surprise? What a great guy and the others too!!! And oh yeah he was a great boxer Went ten with Tommy Hearns and apart from the first round, almost didnt flinch!!
The first ever super middle champ as well! Think it was the IBF , back before the division really took off. Got me thinking how he'd get on in the golden era of Brits..Benn, Eubank, Watson?
I've got to admit never watched any of his fights, but was aware of his reputation. Tough nut for definite.
There’s footage of him on YouTube. Both of his fights with Spinks are on there. One night when you’re sitting around maybe watch a few rounds. Guy was spunky and constantly moving and throwing punches.
Definitely mate. That's what I like to do when I've got a spare bit of time, get the old fights on YouTube.
He was. a likeable, gritty fighter and a pretty good, tidy technician, but he was quite undersized at 175 and easily able to drop down to 168 (and even 160 at times) well into his career. I think he would have done better had he come along later when the 168 division was established and had British stars competing in it - by the time he did in real life he was starting to pile up the miles. his fairly one-paced style and lack of standout physical ability would not have been the drawbacks they were at 175 there. His KO record was heavily overembellished by TKO's in stay busy joureymen fights as well, he never actually struck me as more than a solid puncher.
