British middleweight contender Martin Murray claimed a controversial decision victory against Gabriel Rosado at the Liverpool Echo Arena this weekend.
Murray, who by his own admission was fighting for his career, took home a majority decision that had many observers questioning the validity of the margin of victory.
Two official ringside judges turned in cards of 116-112 and 119-109 in Murray’s favour, whilst a third scored the bout as a 114-114 draw.
A gritty war of attrition, the fight was close throughout.
Following the announcement that one judge had scored the fight by the wide margin of 119-109 to Murray, his American opponent quickly lost control of his temper.
Having first focused his anger at a judge at ringside, he then shared his frustrations with Murray causing a fracas to break out in the ring.
The two were quickly pulled apart from one and other, restoring order to the ring.
Post fight Murray remained confident that he deserved the victory.
“I was a level above him … I don’t know how one judge scored it 114-114. I thought I won it clearly. Maybe 119-109 was wrong. I gave him three or four rounds.”
“He came over here blabbing his mouth but he got schooled. Simple as that … I’m back in the middleweight division now.”
Rosando obviously didn’t share the same opinion, declaring: “119-109, that’s crazy. I hurt you in the last round. You were about to go.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95qiZb3Ngrs&t=158s
For many Rosado’s frustrations were understandable. Although Murray had turned in a disciplined early performance, as the rounds wore on it appeared that the hard hitting American had turned the tide.
Whether he had done enough to win is debatable. But by judging the reaction of the partisan local crowd, Murray should feel grateful to have come away with his record improved.
That said if ever there was ever a fighter who deserved the benefit of the doubt, it’s Murray.
All too often the murky world of boxing politics and questionable decisions have plagued his career. The St Helens native has been on the recieving end of what many saw as home cooked decisions when he challenged for the world title in both Germany and Argentina.
Now 34, Murray’s record improves to 35-4-1.
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