Johannesburg– Rodney Berman has contacted IBF middleweight champion Sam Soliman’s camp about potentially matching him with highly-rated Martin Murray in Monte Carlo in October.
He says he has made a “substantial offer” to the Australian, who beat Felix Sturm for the title last month.
Murray fights Max Bursak for the WBC Silver belt in Monaco next weekend, but plans are already afoot to land a bigger prize later this year.
“The middleweight division is very fluid right now and Martin is a big part of that,” said the Golden Gloves promoter in South Africa. “He’s proven himself in major fights and he has huge pulling power.”
WBC champion Miguel Cotto is the hot man of the division after his dominant performance against Sergio Martinez last weekend, but Berman believes he will opt for more established names who would be big draws in New York or Las Vegas.
As for WBA Super champion Gennady Golovkin, Golden Gloves has promoted him a number of times in Monte Carlo, but he has a fight lined up against Daniel Geale next month. Julio Cesar Chavez jnr, Berman speculates, is a likely foe down the line for a potential superfight.
Berman is pursuing Soliman, reasoning that, at age 40, the Australian can’t afford to sit on the sidelines. Besides, the other champions aren’t queuing up to fight him.
The South African promoter will also be keeping a close eye on the August 9 fight in New York between Jarrod Fletcher and Daniel Jacobs for the WBA’s regular middleweight belt. Berman promoted Fletcher’s most recent fight (against Bursak).
“I would be prepared to offer the winner a deal for an October 21 bout against Murray,” said a bullish Berman.
Murray is well placed for an assault on the world title after two desperately close attempts, losing a controversial decision to Martinez in Argentina and drawing with Sturm in Germany.
He is rated number four by the World Boxing Council and effectively number one by the International Boxing Federation, which has the first two positions vacant.
It goes without saying that Murray must first beat Bursak to set the wheels in motion for the planned October extravaganza.
