Martin Murray and Josh Taylor got some big wins on June 23 to push them one step closer to fighting in world title fights in their respective divisions.
After his fight against WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders was called off once again, Murray fought Roberto Garcia at the O2 Arena by unanimous decision.
The fight was a relatively easy going one for Murray, who dominated using his jab and landing punches to the body. There was some controversy early in the fight when Garcia was deducted a point in the second round for low blows and was again deducted a point later on in the fight although the referee did not specify the reason.
Although Murray won the WBC Silver title, it's highly unlikely he will get a chance at the WBC middleweight title. Murray figures to join the WBC rankings after beating Garcia, previously ranked No. 6, but there are a couple of boxers who are ahead of him in regards to challenging for the WBC title, including interim champion Jermall Charlo and Canelo Alvarez, who is challenging for Gennady Golovkin's title later this year.
On that same O2 Arena boxing card, Taylor beat former junior welterweight world champion Viktor Postol to win the WBC Silver junior welterweight title. Taylor, who now moves to 13-0, won the bout by a wide unanimous decision (117-110, 118-110, 119-108).
Taylor was able to create a cut around Postol’s right eye in the second round, but Postol was able to give Taylor some trouble, especially around halfway through the fight. Taylor was able to put the nail in the coffin as far as the scorecards are concerned when a left hook dropped Postol in the 10th round.
With the win, Taylor moves one step closer to challenging Jose Ramirez for his WBC title as the fight was a title eliminator for his title. Whether or not Taylor gets his shot at the WBC title soon remains a mystery as Taylor has been rumored to be joining the World Boxing Super Series tournament that has not been announced yet.
