Ringside Boxing Report: John Murray vs. Gary Buckland

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Friday night, at the Kingsway Leisure Centre, Widnes, England, Matchroom Sport (Barry Hearn) hosted a fightnight which saw a fantastic all-action headliner.

John Murray of Manchester faced Gary Buckland of Cardiff for the Vacant EBU (European) Lightweight Title and the fourth defence of his BBBofC British Lightweight Title.

Within the first half minute of the opening round, Referee Marcus McDonnell is already warning the two men to ‘watch the heads’ as they go toe-to-toe.

Both men settle in straight away with Murray targeting the body of Buckland who returns with body-shots and spearing uppercuts. Referee McDonnell warns again to ‘watch the heads’ with just over a minute remaining. The opening round set the pace for the rest of the fight – toe-to-toe ‘gutsy’ action from both men!

Murray lands a sweet right hook to the face of Buckland mid-way through the second which he clearly ‘felt’ but the Welshman continues to drive forward with gloves up high.

But Buckland is under pressure in the closing half minute of the frame as Murray digs in the body-shots. Buckland keeps driving forward like a bull (!) swinging out the right and left.

By the end of the third, Murray has landed 70 punches as opposed to Bucklands 27 (Sky Sports Statistics).

Mid-way through the fourth and Buckland is warned for use of the head then Murray for barging with the shoulder. But both men continue to slug it out. Murray’s body-shots find their target each time.

Buckland lands a left which rocks back the head of Murray in the fifth, Murray returns with another gruelling punch to the body but Buckland lands a left hook followed by a right. It’s a better round for Dynamo Buckland.

Murray is warned for ‘pushing down’ but continues with the body-shots which must be taking their toll by now on a relentless Gary Buckland, who’s nose is bloody by the end of the frame.

Murray is warned again in the sixth for use of the head, but moments later he lands a stinging uppercut and Buckland’s face is red and bloody. Murray follows up with little stabbing punches to the mid-torso and Buckland looks to have been sapped of energy.

Murray lands more punches and Buckland bravely stands up to him, his sides reddened from the blows. But he still gets in with some uppercuts before going back to his corner at the end of the round. His right eye is now swollen – almost shut.

The eighth round sees Murray landing uppercuts and it’s getting uncomfortable to watch now (!) Despite this – Buckland still manages to end the round with a solid punch! But there’s surprise from many ringside to see the Welsh Warrior back out for the ninth.

By the end of the tenth round, Sky Sports reveal that Murray has landed 214 punches as opposed to Buckland’s 85, and 100 of those were body-shots.

After a brave effort from Gary Buckland, Referee McDonnell stops the fight mid-way through the eleventh. John Murray gets to keep his Lonsdale Belt outright and wins the European Title.

His record is now 29 wins (17 by KO) while Gary Buckland drops to 18 wins (6 by KO) 2 losses (1 by KO).

There was also a good undercard.

Prince Arron (Droylsden) v Max Maxwell ( Birmingham )
8 Round Light-Middleweight Contest

Arron – fighting for the first time since winning Prizefighter – got a good points win 78-74 over Brummy Boxer Maxwell. Arron improves to 18 wins (1 by KO) 3 losses (2 by KO) and 1 draw, while Maxwell drops to 11 wins (2 by KO) 9 losses (1 by KO) and 2 draws.

John O’Donnell (Shepherds Bush) v Laszlo Robert Balogh ( Budapest )
8 Round Welterweight Contest

O’Donnell dominated this contest and after a succession of punches in the fifth round – Referee Michael Alexander stepped in to save Balogh from further punishment. O’Donnell wins by TKO round 5 and improves to 23 wins (11 by KO) 1 loss (1 by KO) while Balogh drops to 7 wins (3 by KO) 2 losses (2 by KO) and 1 draw.

Paul Truscott (Middlesbrough) v Nikita Lukin ( Ukraine )
6 Round Super-Featherweight Contest

Trussy was clearly happier at this weight winning on points 59-55 over Ukrainian Lukin who put up a good fight against the Middlesbrough man. Truscott improves to 14 wins (1 by KO) 2 losses (2 by KO) while Lukin drops to 11 wins (4 by KO) 19 losses (1 by KO) and 2 draws.

Jono Rocco Hussey ( Manchester ) v Gavin Deacon ( Northampton )
6 Round Light-Welterweight Contest

Rocco who found most of his success with the right – forced a points win 59-56 over Deacon who sustained a cut during the last round. Hussey improves to 15 wins (2 by KO) 2 losses while Deacon drops to 6 wins 18 losses (4 by KO) and 1 draw.

Liam Cullen ( Manchester ) v Mark Lewis ( Nottingham )
4 Round Cruiserweight Contest

Cullen dominated to notch up his second pro-win on points 40-36. Lewis sustained a bloody nose in the second round and took some big punches from the Manchester Man. He drops to no wins 8 losses.

Martin Ward ( Newcastle ) v Mo Khaled ( Sheffield )
4 Round Super-Bantamweight Contest

After a good win last time out – Ingle boxer Khaled seemed unsettled in this one with Ward getting the win on points 40-36. His record now stands at 6 wins (1 by KO) while Khaled drops to 4 wins 8 losses (2 by KO) and 3 draws.

Jamie McKeever (Birkenhead) v Dougie Curran ( Newcastle )
4 Round Featherweight Contest

McKeever took some solid shots in the first round which saw the Birkenhead man on the canvas twice. But McKeever aka ‘Relentless’ stuck it out to the end of the contest.

Curran wins on points 38-36. His record stands at 3 wins and 2 losses, while McKeever drops to 18 wins (6 by KO) 10 losses (4 by KO) and 1 draw.