Matchmaker Monday: What is next for Lerone Murphy?
Lerone Murphy notched a career best win this passed weekend.
A win over Josh Emmett will propel the UK native deep into the top ten of the featherweight division. Naturally we will be looking at what should be next for the undefeated contender.
Will we see another matchup against a legacy contender? A wrestling test? Let’s explore our options.
Lerone Murphy vs. Aljamain Sterling
We all know how good Aljamain Sterling is. The former bantamweight champion has moved up to 145 to make room for his teammate, Merab Dvalishvili. But after Sterling fell off to Movsar Evloev, “The Funkmaster” is now in the back of the line.
Sterling did prove that he is among the best at 145 with his razor close fight with Evloev. With Lerone Murphy looking to prove his status at 145, Sterling would be a great test. We would get to see if Murphy could stand the test against some of the division’s elite.
UK vs. UK
Another great matchup for Lerone Murphy would be against Arnold Allen. This fight would serve as a perfect main event of a fight night in the UK. While not a wrestler, we know that Arnold Allen is a quality fighter.
After dropping two fights against Max Holloway and Movsar Evloev, Allen rebounded with a rebound against Giga Chikadze. Ranked seventh, Allen should be fighting down in the rankings. With Murphy fighting up, a proper UK vs. UK fight could be in store.
Murphy’s choice
Left up to Lerone Murphy, Brian Ortega would be the choice. Despite being 2-4 since 2018, Ortega is ranked sixth. He seems to be on the back end of his career and figured out.
Murphy already showed that he’s capable of negating wrestling. Ortega is not particularly good at wrestling if we’re being honest. This fight is cherry picking at its finest. Everyone knows that Ortega shouldn’t be ranked sixth. Murphy would benefit massively if he beat Murphy. But this fight is the least intriguing of these three.
