John Murray is hoping to shock the world this Saturday night when he faces WBA lightweight titlist Brandon Rios on the Cotto vs Margarito undercard, and also is a bit disappointed that British fans haven't more blindly rallied behind him as he heads to Madison Square Garden to take on the heavily-favored Mexican-American. From the Daily Star:
"I just think ‘What have I done wrong?’ I always give 100 per cent, wear my heart on my sleeve and cannot believe people are supporting Rios when I’m a Brit fighting abroad. The negative people are putting fuel on the fire and making me more determined to shock the world."
... "They seem to think it’s his party, but I am here to win this title. Rios has dynamite in both hands, but is very reckless and allows himself to get hit. We will exploit his recklessness. He doesn’t mind taking one or two punches to land one. I am confident and wouldn’t be here unless I thought I could win."
On the first part, I've said this before, and maybe it's that I'm from the United States and have no allegiances to American fighters or athletes just because they're American, but I don't get this whole thing. I'm sure most Brits are rooting for him, but it doesn't take a fool to see that Murray is the serious underdog here. If they're not picking him to win, it doesn't mean they don't support him. I will always believe in rational thought over blind allegiance. But that's me, the silly American who doesn't care how many medals we win at the Olympics.
[ Related: Brandon Rios Talks Fight With Murray, First MSG Bout ]
Murray (31-1, 18 KO) is a good fighter, himself reckless and willing to take one or two to land one. The prevailing thought is he simply won't be strong enough to take Rios' best shots, while Rios will be strong enough to hold up against Murray. But no matter who you think will win, this is destined to be a phone booth war -- and a fight you do not want to miss. The fight is, on paper, sort of a carbon copy of Rios vs Antillon from July, without the trash-talking beforehand.