• Gennady Golovkin v Martin Murray

Murray surprised by lack of Golovkin punching power

Martin Murray and Gennady Golovkin pose for a photo © Getty Images

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Martin Murray has revealed he was taken aback by his fight with middleweight destroyer Gennady Golovkin, but only because the Kazakh did not punch as hard as he thought he would.

Murray forced Golovkin into the 11th round for the first time in his career but was knocked down three times before succumbing to a knockout defeat at the Salle des Etoiles in Monte Carlo last Saturday.

Before the fight, Murray revealed how he was working on 10 different game plans to defeat Golovkin and claim his WBA middleweight title.

But speaking to Buncey's Boxing Podcast for ESPN, Murray admitted he struggled to fight on the front foot despite a lack of punching power from his illustrious opponent.

"I expected a tough fight and anybody who saw it knows that it was," Murray said. "But to be honest, and I know it might sound a bit daft because I was up and down like a yoyo, I thought he was going to hit a bit harder than he did.

"It wasn't so much his punching power, which is strong - don't get me wrong, he hits well - but I was constantly on the back foot and on the ropes. Not through choice, it was just that I couldn't really get any momentum or pressure going forward.

"We knew I was going to spend a lot of time on the ropes and that was one of the tactics that we tried to use - to counter him. But it's quite hard to generate power like that when your back's to the ropes. We did catch him and I had some success when I was in the centre of the ring, but I just couldn't maintain that pressure going forward.

Murray, 32, admitted to feeling "gutted" about the result but claimed the defeat had not knocked his confidence as he continues his quest for a world title.

"I was away a long time from my family so I'm happy to be home now," Murray added. "I'm obviously gutted about the result but I tried my best and I am taking something out of it. I'm more confident now that I will become world champion one day."

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