By Terence Dooley

John Murray and Jon Thaxton both weighed in under the lightweight limit for tomorrow night’s vacant British title fight.  The two rivals lock horns at the Leisure Centre, Altrincham and the fight will be televised live on ITV4 at 8pm tomorrow evening.

Thaxton and Murray have been on a collision course over the past few seasons.  Things were simmering nicely until Thaxton lost his European title to Anthony Mezaache in February of this year.  Jon then moved up to welterweight for a non-title fight with Tom Glover and suffered a second consecutive loss, the unheralded Glover proving too strong and persistent at the higher weight.

Thaxton, though, is an experienced campaigner; he knows that form is temporary and class is permanent.  The Norwich-born boxer, 35, who trains at the Ingles’ gym in Sheffield, looked focussed when he took to the scales for this fight.

Jon has boxed the likes of Ricky Hatton, Yuri Romanov, Juan Carlos Diaz Melero, Eamon Magee and Emmanuel Augustus; he recently dominated the British lightweight division.  Defeating men like Lee Meager, Dave Stewart and Scott Lawton in the process.  Thaxton is a battle-hardened veteran and he insists that he will take away Murray’s ‘0’.

“I feel great,” declared Thaxton after making the weight.  “Training has gone very well and I’ve done everything I possibly can do, I’m happy.  It was an off night last time against Glover.  I train hard Monday to Friday with Dominic and then, as Dominic will tell you, undid his good work over the weekend and over-trained, but that is just me – I love training.  I’m a great person to train but I sometimes overdo it and that is what happened last time out.”

Thaxton has been completely written off by the British boxing public. The general consensus is that the result is in the bag for Murray, 23. However, Thaxton has a point to prove to one person in particular – his father, who wrote his son off when the fight was announced.

“I’m a man with a point to prove and a man with a point to prove is very dangerous.  I love being written off.  If my old man can write me off then how can I get annoyed by other people writing me off?  I love it,” growled Jon.

“I don’t care what people say.  I’ll shove my dad’s words down his throat.  When I’ve found it hard working for this fight with Dominic I think of my dad’s words and I think ‘Get it done!’ 

“Look, if Mezaache had not have spat out his dummy, I mean gumshield, in the first round of our contest then that fight’d been stopped and I’d still be European champion.  Maybe the ref did make a mistake, but so what?  Mezaache got back into the fight and won it.”

Thaxton was, of course, referring to the first round of the Mezaache contest.  Jon floored the Frenchman with a fierce hook only for the challenger to spit out his shield and gain some valuable recovery time.  The manner of defeat may rankle with Thaxton but he refused too carp about it, telling me that:

“I’ve had seventeen years as a pro boxer and I can’t complain.  I’ve tried to be a good ambassador for the sport and think I’ve succeeded by living a good, clean life outside the ring.  Yeah I’ve made mistakes, I’ve been beaten, but I always come back and learn from those mistakes.

“If I win this fight I’ve got a Lonsdale belt on my mantelpiece for keeps so I have the motivation right there.  My power has come on under the Ingles.  I believe that it could end early or late – you never know.  John is very capable as a fighter but I’m looking at myself and concentrating on what I can do.  I’m in great shape, I’m in a good place and I’m very happy.”

However, Jon did have one final thought on the Glover and Mezaache fights.  “Those two defeats hurt,” he confessed.  “I hate losing, I hate losing playing snakes and ladders with my little girl so to lose two fights in the boxing ring after working so hard hurt me badly.  I’ll put it all on the line tomorrow night.  You’re damn right; I will call for a Mezaache rematch if I win this one.  I gave him a chance so why not give me a chance?”

Murray’s trainer Joe Gallagher caught up with us; he bristled when asked if Murray was the clear favourite in this fight.  Gallagher, instead, told me that Thaxton should be the favoured fighter ahead of this crunch clash.

“Experience,” declared Gallagher when asked about the strongest of Thaxton’s attributes.  “We’ve watched all the Thaxton fights.  We’ve watched non-Thaxton fights involving similar styles of fighters.  John has been watching [Julio Cesar] Chavez versus [Hector] Camacho as well as [Ricky] Hatton-Thaxton – that was an unbelievable fight.  We’ve seen Thaxton against Melero, Glover, [Emanuel] Augustus, [Jason] Rowland, Romanov, Meager and Lawton.

“I think that people have got to summarise this fight and look at the form guides objectively.  They say John will knock Thaxton out but there is nothing in John’s form guide top say he is a Mike Tyson style hitter - so how will he get Thaxton out?  Eamon Magee, who floored Ricky Hatton and was a dangerous European level hitter, was the last man to stop Jon.  I can’t see the train of thought that says Murray by knockout.

“Then you say Murray is favourite due to his youth but that doesn’t take into account the calibre of fighter that Thaxton has been in with. Hatton, Rowland, Melero, Augustus, Romanov and the like, so he ticks that box over John Murray as well.  Thaxton has been in with better class and has trained for the title distance sixteen times to John’s six.  It is very much a Bernard Hopkins against Kelly Pavlik type of fight.  Thaxton is a crafty fox and he has seen off young guns before in British title fights with Meager and Stewart.”

Still, Gallagher is confident, believing that his charge is the up-and-comer and that youth is often served on nights like this.  “This is John’s fourth big fight in a row and he is there with Jamie Moore, Kell Brook and Nathan Cleverly on current form in British boxing,” he said.

“They are the form boxers and the recent form guide is with John.  He has stopped three European ranked boxers in a row.  Jon is coming off a loss and a contentious points defeat for the European title but if he had got that Mezaache decision he’d have never took the Glover fight and we’d be talking about Jon Thaxton as the in-form fighter.

“Jon floored Mezaache too early and probably thought he could do it again and the fight slipped away from him.  I’m taking Jon Murray into a fight with the European champion and one of the best lightweights in Europe.

“You have to look at it and look at the form guide and imagine that Boxing News will have Jon the favourite on the morning of the fight [Writer’s note: They have picked Murray].  Jon Thaxton has seen it all before, in fact he could say that he’s been in with a better version of John Murray in Ricky Hatton.  It is all about timing but the last thing a puncher loses is the ability to hit hard.”

Gallagher then switched it around a little bit, giving us a brief soliloquy on why the scales may tip in Murray’s favour come fight night.  While respecting the power of Thaxton, Gallagher believes that his boxer has a cast-iron chin.

“No, John’s never been floored,” he responded when asked.  “John has been tough like that from an early age.  This is not something that we’ve not done before, either.  John’s not going in there against anything that he’s not already seen.  He’s been in with big punchers from day one.

“Don’t forget, we sparred Ricky Hatton when John was preparing for Dean Hickman.  The rounds John did with Ricky had some people raising their eyebrows - John gave it his all and so did Ricky.  John’s been in with Bobby Vanzie and heavier kids and he more than holds his own.  We don’t know until the night but we are prepared mentally and physically as well as resistance wise, John is battle hardened, just like Thaxton.”

This belief in John’s chin is boosted by an insistence that Thaxton’s power has been overrated in recent years.

“They also say that one thing a fighter never loses is his punch.  I hope these words don’t come back to haunt me but people are talking Thaxton up as a tremendous puncher, let’s look at the facts.  Sure, he is a good, hard hitter but when you look at his record he’s buzzed guys like Meager up and not finished them cleanly,” stated Gallagher. 

“Thaxton caught Ricky Hatton in about round eight with a tremendous hook and it bounced off Ricky.  We are not looking at Thaxton as King Kong, although we won’t just be marching through his punches.  We know what we have to do on the night.

“Thaxton has got to give it five rounds of hell-to-leather, looking to get lucky.  I can’t see him beating Murray over the twelve rounds.  He may try Lee McAllister hit-and-move tactics but he hasn’t got Lee’s engine.  I think he’ll try to take John out and that will make it a great fight.

“This guy catches guys with shots on the break and he has hurt the likes of Melero with those big swings so we have to be careful when we’re coming out off the breaks.  Jon likes to get those quick swings off.  It will be a great atmosphere, a great crowd and we’ll win the fight.”

Gallagher was getting Hegel-esque in his breakdown of the fight; dialectically striking off possible outcomes and scenarios.  Thaxton was the puncher, then he wasn’t; Jon was the favourite, only for Murray to be given the edge, which was then passed back to Thaxton; Joe finally settled on a position, telling us that, win lose or draw, the fight will be compelling viewing, bloody also.

“The only way this could stop early is if Thaxton gets marked up facially, as he does get wounded in fights,” stressed Gallagher.  “That is something that we hope to work on but I do feel that this one will be a real grueller.”

“We could be looking at McAllister and [Ignacio] Mendoza all over again, a real tough night for John.  We want to take care of business and our chin, keep our head down and avoid the type of swing that knocked Paul ‘Scrap Iron’ Ryan out.

“We know that Jon can swing away but the main thing to do is make sure he misses the target or hits gloves.  We’ll keep John’s hands tight but I’m not trying to change John’s style.  Thaxton should be worrying about John Murray because this fight is more to do with what John can do.  We’ll give Thaxton what he expects on the night and see if he can deal with it.  John won’t get caught with backhanders or lead uppercuts.  Jon can run but that is fine as well, it is twelve-rounds and John is in great shape; he is ready for a distance fight.”

The equally gregarious Dominic Ingle sat down with us after the weigh-in to outline his thoughts on the fight.  The Sheffield stalwart believes that Thaxton’s recent form guide has been misleading; he also believes that complaints over the timing of the contest are misguided.

“It is a good fight,” declared Dominic.  “When do two good boxers meet in their peak?  It is not like football where all the top teams play each other twice a year.  In boxing you can find someone seemingly at the end of their career taking on the new kid on the block. 

“John is a good, young kid and he is the new guy on the block but he hasn’t really reached the heights that he was supposed to get to.  Jon Thaxton has been European champion, he’s boxed Ricky Hatton and he’s taken on everybody, he is 35-years-old so makes up in power and experience what he lacks in youth.  It is the opposite for John Murray; he has youth over power and experience.  That is what makes this an interesting fight.”

Dominic shook his head when reminded of Thaxton’s 2009 slate, he believes that Jon has pushed himself too hard in training in the past; as mentioned by Jon, this was the case in the fight with Glover.

“Jon is a lightweight.  Glover is a welterweight and he has improved in the last couple of years in beating the likes of Nadeem Siddique.  As Jon said, he overcompensated for that fight and if he had done what he was told to do he’d have had no problem with Glover.  Losing to someone like Mr. Glover won’t bother Jon Thaxton.  Jon gave Ricky Hatton life-and-death.  Jon will do the same tomorrow night.  He is up for this fight, the British belt is the title he loves and he will be ready.”

“Jon is his own worst enemy,” he continued.  “He does too much.  People see the Glover fight and think he’s washed-up but he boxed a really good fight the one before it only to lose by a few points.  Jon Thaxton is one of the only fighters in boxing who actually loves to fight.  Jon doesn’t think ‘I don’t want to fight him or him’, he’ll take on anyone. 

“When Jon lost to Yuri Romanov his face was hanging off and he was still protesting the stoppage – he wanted to carry on!  Jon always wants to win the fight.  He is so determined.  He can blow hot and cold but when he’s hot he is really hot.”

Murray and Thaxton are kindred spirits.  Styles aside, power aside, bragging rights aside, these two men are those rarest of boxers – they both love to get in there and fight.  Not all boxers have this all-or-nothing love of fighting.  Murray gets itchy fists when watching boxing on TV.  Then you have Thaxton, who spoke through gritted teeth when discussing his recent loss of form.

Also, both men fight with distinctive styles.  Murray is the Manchester Mexican type; Thaxton, although from Norwich, boxes in the Sheffield switch-hitting stance; Dominic believes that the style match-up will favour his boxer.

“John Murray is a typical Manchester fighter,” said Ingle.  “He still has that very amateur style, he punches correct and straight, throws his hooks well and applies pressure in the corner.  We’ve had Jon sparring the most amateur style lads at the gym to prepare him, good lads, getting them to throw those types of shots.  Jon has also sparred with the likes of Kell Brook in his time and he always holds his own.

“John Murray likes to put on weight after the weigh in, bull people into corners and put his body weight on them before letting his shots go, that won’t happen with Jon, who is stronger, has manoeuvrability and won’t be there waiting to get hit.  We expect fireworks and hopefully the best man wins.”

Thaxton’s southpaw stance is also a big factor, although Dominic believes that too much emphasis is being placed on this.

“I don’t think it comes down to that,” he stated when asked about Jon’s stance.  “Ricky Hatton is said to struggle against southpaws but he beat Collazo, Juan Urango and Eamon Magee.  It doesn’t really matter if John is used to southpaws or not, he’s had plenty of fights in the limelight, plenty of training and plenty of sparring.  He’s also had good coaching from Mr. Gallagher so it won’t come down to how he handles southpaws, it will come down to grit and determination.  Either the young bull will come through or the old man with the experience will come back strong.

“Jon is ready for twelve hard rounds – he’s had sixteen title fights.  Jon is used to big names, big arenas and big fights.  These two will get in the ring tomorrow night and it will be a case of ‘fair play’ to the eventual winner – but we are confident that Jon will win this fight.”

Both men weighed 9st 8lb at today’s weigh in.