Jon Thaxton vs. John Murray Preview
British Lightweight Title on the Line in Altrincham
On October 3rd, the undefeated John Murray will face off against Norwich's tough veteran Jon Thaxton to decide who the rightful holder of the British lightweight title is. For all his experience, Thaxton is really up against it as the man he is facing is young, determined and arguably more hungry than he is.
Murray The Champion?
In actual fact, most people still see Murray as the champion anyway. After all, he only lost the belt on the scales, and when it was time for him to fight, he delivered on all fronts by sending Scott Lawton back to Stoke a very unhappy man. Besides, he only came in overweight by approximately the weight of a ten pence coin; even more reason for people to believe he is still the champion.
In the ring, he has many favourable qualities. He plows forward all the time, and has a very good workrate. As his fight against Lee McAllister proved, his body shots are also very good, but his head shots aren't to be sniffed at either. While he isn't the fastest in either hand or foot, he makes up for that with the excellent pace he sets, and this is a problem for most fighters he faces.
A Past It Thaxton?
Murray's pace could prove to be a massive problem for Thaxton in particular. In his last two fights, he has gassed out after three rounds and has been fighting off instinct after that. If he does this with Murray, this fight won't last long and Murray will make him pay for fatigue.
Another thing that is worrying is that in his last fight, he moved up in weight and lost to a boxer named Tom Glover, who is capable, but hasn't even won an English Title yet. Considering Thaxton campaigned for over half his career at light welterweight, the extra weight shouldn't have been a problem, making this loss unforgivable for a British Title level fighter. It will be interesting to see what Thaxton has left in the tank in the Murray fight.
Motivation For Murray And Thaxton
Some would argue that the reason Thaxton has been unimpressive in his last two fights is that he was against low level opposition that didn't make him run that extra mile in training. For Thaxton, motivation shouldn't be a problem when fighting Murray, as the undefeated Mancunian could really do some damage to him if he turned up unprepared.
In addition, Thaxton recently said that his father thought Murray would stop him. While Thaxton acknowledged that 'nine times out of ten' fathers are correct, he said he was determined to prove him wrong, and it will be interesting to see if this added incentive does indeed make a difference.
In contrast, it is hard to see where the motivation is coming from for Murray. He can't win a Lonsdale belt outright in this fight and Thaxton has shown he is beatable in his last two outings. However, this is a chance for Murray to make a statement, and if he realises this, he could make short work of 'Jono'.
Who Will Win Murray vs. Thaxton
In the early rounds, Thaxton will make it intersting as he will potshot Murray as he plows forward, and use his experience to create angles. However, after this period, Murray will start to grind 'Jono' down, and may even get rid of him inside eight action packed rounds.
How To Watch Murray vs. Thaxton
John Murray vs. Jon Thaxton will be on ITV 4 in the UK on October 3rd 2009. Tickets can be bought for the this event on the website of Hennessy Sports.
John Murray
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