Martin Murray has been added to the bill at the Manchester Arena on July 18 as the St Helens man continues his assault on the Super Middleweight division. Murray made his bow at the weight at the Echo Arena in Liverpool on Saturday, delivering a vicious body shot to kick off life at 168lbs with a second round KO win.
The three-time Middleweight World title challenger replaces Heavyweight Anthony Joshua who was originally set to appear on the bill but will now focus on a major title bout on September 12 at The O2 in London.
Murray is chasing the big domestic names on the Super Middleweight scene and the 32 year old is delighted to be back out again so soon in the North West.
“It’s great to be busy and getting another fight so quickly,” said Murray. “I felt strong, it came a little soon this fight, so it was made around 12st 4oz, I felt good in there though, it was nice not having to kill myself to get down to 11st 6oz, I was 12st 4oz and I woke up at 12st 7oz, so I only put on three pounds, where usually I weigh in 11st 6oz and wake up 12st 5oz. To me that says that this is my natural weight. I didn’t feel as though I needed to eat as much and it just felt natural.
“I think that getting built correctly like I will at Matchroom, I’ll be getting these big domestic fights that are out there in the Super Middleweight division in Britain.
“I want to fight the best out there. When I retire i want to be able to say that I fought the best in the divisions I boxed in and that I never swerved a fight. I boxed the best at Middle and I want to do the same at Super Middleweight, and I believe that now I am up at 168lbs I will do that at my natural weight and win a World title.”
Murray joins a star-studded card in Manchester topped by a pair of huge World title fights as Scott Quigg defends his WBA World Super Bantamweight title against former IBF World champion and Anthony Crolla challenges Darleys Perez for the Columbian’s WBA Lightweight crown.
There’s a pair of vacant British titles up for grabs and a quartet of top-class Brits tussling for them as Chris Jenkins takes on Tyrone Nurse for the Light Welterweight crown and Sam Eggington and Glenn Foot battle for the British and Commonwealth Welterweight straps.
It’s a busy night for trainer Joe Gallagher who has fights for unbeaten pair Hosea Burton and Marcus Morrison along with Quigg and Crolla, while there are outings for Prizefighter Lightweight champion Jono Carroll, former Team GB starlet Charlie Edwards, Sedgefield’s Jeff Saunders, Middleton’s Liam Taylor and Chapel-en-le-Firth’s Jack Massey.
