Most of the eyes of the boxing world will be on Las Vegas and the highly anticipated Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez HBO pay-per-view, tomorrow (Saturday, November 21, 2015). However, Germany and England also have a pair of world titles on the line in fights with terrific story lines. The Tui Arena in Hannover, Germany hosts Super Middleweight action as Martin Murray (32-2-1) challenges WBO champion Arthur Abraham (43-4) in a match that is coming in with very tight lines at the books. The twelve round bout has an over/under of 9 1/2, with the over paying at (-600) and the under paying (+400), so the two sturdy veterans are expected to go the distance. Abraham is coming in a (-120) favorite, with Murray returning even money. Abraham will be making the fifth defense of his belt, and he has a pair of other distinguished runs with a world title, but in some of his recent outings he has looked a bit long in the tooth, and at 35 he has been through several wars recently. In his last outing back in June he stopped arch-rival Robert Steiglitz to win their four fight series (3-1). In the media, abraham acknowledges that Murray is a tough opponent. For his part, Murray has gone (0-2-1) in previous world title matches and he is very motivated for this fourth attempt. In those matches he acquitted himself quite well against high level competition, earning a draw with Felix Sturm and losing a close match to Sergio Martinez in Argentina and taking Gennady Golovkin into the 11th round while fighting at Middleweight. Murray has gone (3-0) in ther last half of 23015 while campaigning at Super Middleweight. In England, at the Manchester Arena, Anthony Crolla tries for the second time to win the interim WBA World Lightweight title from Darleys Perez. Crolla is (29-4-3) and he got his first chance at Perez last July, but the match wound up a majority draw, with one judge having the fight for Crolla at (116-111). The two fought to the distance the first time out, so the over/under for this 12 rounder is at 9 1/2, with the over paying (-475) and the under at (+325). Crolla is favored in a line that has been widening as we approach the fight and is currently paying (-170). Perez won and defended the interim belt several times, and the proper WBO WOrld Lightweight titles is in the hands of Crolla arch-rival Derry Matthews, so ity is clear British promoter Eddie Hearn is hoping for Crolla to grab the belt from Perez so he can set up a third Crolla vs Matthews bout.
