Ireland's Andy Murray faces possibly his biggest test tonight as he fights Claudinei Lacerda in Castlebar. Murray is unbeaten in 22 fights and really needs to be pushing for titles now. Lacerda looks like a dangerous guy and i'm not sure if he's the right choice for Murray. Although Lacerda is being hyped as ranked 14 in the world, that is only by the WBO. A win over Lacerda will not catapult Murray into world title fight contention as is being speculated. Lacerda is a big hitter with 9 ko's in his 14 fights and 5 in his last 6. This suggests there is more risk here than gain. Although Murray has a nice boxing style, he is not terribly elusive and may have to prove he can take some big punches if he's to win here.
A loss for Murray would be devastating for him. It would definitely rule him out of any clash with the big boys of this division. An impressive win over Lacerda may get him a shot at John Murray which i really wouldn't fancy Andy to win. It's a very tough division to progress from with Gavin Rees, Kevin Mitchell and Guillaume Salingue above him in the European rankings. All of these are world class fighters which Andy still needs to prove he is.
The fact that Lacerda has never boxed outside of Brazil may benefit Murray and i'm going to go with a Murray win on points. He needs to keep his defense tight and he certainly won't need to go looking for Lacerda as he's a very aggressive fighter. It is a step-up in class for him but in a tough divison he has to look impressive in victory tonight if he's to command the bigger fights.
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