Murphy looking to bounce back strongly after tough draw with Oles

Sarah Murphy has vowed to come back stronger in her next professional fight after being forced to settle for a draw in her clash with Poland’s Angelika Oles in The Pavilion Building in Leopardstown earlier this month.

In what was her first time competing over six rounds, the 19-year-old Kildare boxer admitted that she was sucked into a brawl by her opponent at the expense of her own game plan, which consequently cost her the chance to extend her perfect run to 5 and 0.

Still, she did enough to avoid defeat and insists she has learnt a lot from this challenge which was made that bit more difficult by a late change in opponent.

Indeed, Murphy had been due to face off against England’s Sherie Barnes, but ended up taking on the heavier Oles, who, with 21 fights and four wins to her name, was bringing plenty of experience into the ring.

“I'm very disappointed with my performance,” remarked Murphy after her draw. “I knew I didn't perform up to the standards that I can. There was a lot more that I could have done on the night, but I ended up being drawn into her fight instead of boxing my own and that led to more grappling, more head clashes, and me not being able to get my shots off.

“I tried once or twice throughout the fight to draw her into my fight and, for and the last two rounds, I managed to do that.

“But for the first four rounds, it was just completely her fight and it led into something completely different to what we were aiming for. It's the first time that that’s happened to me, but it's a learning curve.

“After being in a fight like that now, I'd like to think that, come my next fight, if something like that were to happen again, that I’d be able to control it a lot better, and be able to step away, rather than getting sucked into their fight,” she said.

Murphy does insist she has the beating of Oles, but that the weight issue would have to be sorted before accepting a rematch.

“I’d box her again as long as she came down to my weight,” she told The Kildare Nationalist. “She came in a bit heavy on the scales and I was originally meant to be boxing at a lower weight, but with a last-minute change of opponent, I had to go up in weight a small bit.

“If she was to come down to my weight, I’d have no problem having a rematch. That's how confident I am that I'd be able to beat her,” she said.

Wes Murphy, Sarah’s father and coach, remained very much upbeat after this latest result, insisting “It wasn't all doom and gloom. It was a last-minute change of opponent and she boxed a girl that was a bit heavier than her. It was a step-up to six rounds, which was brilliant.

“It was a fight we felt we should have won and could have won, but unfortunately we fell into the other girl’s style, rather than box. We ended up in a fight, which was the wrong thing to do, so it was a big lesson learned.

“The important thing is she dug out a result, got the draw, so she kept the loss off her record, which is very important.

“She's out again on September 26th when she'll fight a six-rounder again and we’re looking forward to it,” he said.

Certainly, young Murphy will not be left simmering on this loss for long, as she prepares to head back into camp later this month.

Indeed, she has been kept very busy since turning professional last October when she beat England’s Kerry Orton in the National Stadium, having now fought a total of five times.

“I'm thankful it's moving very fast and with how active I've been,” said Murphy. 

“Being so young and only starting off, not many boxers get the opportunity of having six fights within their first year.

“It's amazing, and I'm very glad that I have a fast turnover like this, so that I'm not sitting around and feeling sluggish.

“I'm after learning a lot from that last fight, with it being my first draw and having a really bad performance. There's loads of things to take away from that, loads of experience.

“I'm after taking two weeks off training now just to give my body a break and then I'm going to be straight back into camp.

“I'm going to come back in September and show everyone what I should have put on in that last fight, and it's only going to be much better,” she insisted.