There was a noticeable size difference between the holder Murray and the challenger Blackwell and early in the fight it became apparent that there was a quality difference to match. Blackwell came in with only 8 previous fights under his belt, and though he may be one for the future he was a level below Murray, who looks like he is ready to move up.
There early couple of rounds were a scoping-out exercise. Murray held the centre of the ring with a high guard, solid base and economy of movement that had an easy confidence about it. Blackwell was more active, always on the move and throwing regular combinations, most of which were absorbed on the hands and arms. Murray picked his punches, landing regularly to head and body.
In the third the fight opened up as Murray started to throw more combinations. Blackwell landed a few to the head but Murray walked through them and worked the body. Once it became apparent that Blackwell didn't have the power to hurt Murray the fight started to become more one-sided. In the fourth some big shots started to land and they were all thrown by Murray. Blackwell was increasingly ragged and looked tired, spending a lot of time on the run and occasionally dropping his shoulder and barging forward in an attempt to buy himself some respite. The corner debated pulling him out but gave him one more round to make an impact, but the fifth was more of the same and they were right to throw in the towel before he took any serious damage.
Murray looked calm, controlled and was never troubled in this fight. Though he never put Blackwell down he sapped all his energy by working the body and had exhausted him by the end of the fight. Blackwell looked sprightly early on but was still raw and was in a level too high for this stage of his career.
Lightweight: Anthony Crolla TKO1 Herve de Luca
De Luca was a last minute replacement who had never beaten anyone with a winning record, so this was all set to be a stroll in the park for Crolla, and proved to be just that. De Luca was static and had very little punch power so Crolla could pick his punches without worry and dropped the Belgian with a left hook to the body within the first minute. Thirty seconds later it was deja vu as another left to the body put de Luca on one knee and it was clear the fight wouldn't last long.
Crolla continued to work the body and de Luca was marking up on both sides of the ribs due to the sheer number of body punches that were making it round his elbows. It was finally ended when a gem of a left came up under the ribs and was reminiscent of Ricky Hatton in his pomp. An easy work-out for a fighter ready to challenge for domestic honours.
IBF Youth Featherweight: Joe Murray UD12 James Ancliff
You would expect a fight between a former Olympian on his way up and a a journeyman who stepped in at three days notice to be one-sided and over fairly quickly. That was half right as Murray won by a wide margin on all cards, but it was a far harder fight than the result shows.
Ancliff is a scrappy fighter with poor footwork and no settled base, meaning he throws a lot of arm punches but very little else. Murray was a quality operator who was first to the punch all fight and looked to throw punches with a fair amount behind them. The problem was that with as many punches as Murray landed, and he landed a lot, Ancliff just took it all and came back for more. A lesser man would have been put away within a few rounds, but the Aberdeen fighter looked to be made of granite.
Every round had a similar structure as Ancliff came out punching while Murray countered and relied on his speed to be first to the punch. He won every round clearly but still never looked like putting Ancliff on the floor; whether or not this was due to a lack of power will have to be assessed against another fighter.
Every round had a similar structure as Ancliff came out punching while Murray countered and relied on his speed to be first to the punch. He won every round clearly but still never looked like putting Ancliff on the floor; whether or not this was due to a lack of power will have to be assessed against another fighter.
Joe Murray is a quality operator and will knock out boxers with worse punches than he threw tonight, but Ancliff is the sort of fighter that saves bills up and down the country and deserves credit and recognition for stepping up and putting in a hard 12 rounds and remaining game all the way through.
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