By Terence Dooley

Olympian Joe Murray is set to make his Sky TV debut when he leads the undercard of Matthew Macklin’s European middleweight title tilt against Amin Asikainen at the Velodrome, Manchester this Friday night.  Murray, 22, will be taking part in his fourth paid outing; the man from Manchester believes that he will shine in front of the TV cameras.

Joe went to the Olympics in Beijing last year; he had previously brought home a bronze from the World Boxing Amateur World Championships in 2007; consequently, his amateur pedigree is there for all to see. 

However, Hatton Promotions have adopted a softly, softly approach when it comes to marketing this precocious talent.  Murray’s Olympic status was left off the advertising poster for this bill and he has not received the same fanfare as his fellow Olympians.  Indeed, Birmingham’s Frankie Gavin did not fight at the Olympics yet he is constantly promoted as a core part of Frank Warren’s ‘Olympian’ roster.

Murray intends to let the fans know what he is all about this Friday night.  Delroy Spencer, his opponent on the night, has lost 88 out of 102 fights but he has only been stopped 10 times in his nine-year career.  Murray will be hoping to hand Delroy his 11th stoppage defeat.

Joe told the Manchester Evening News that he is looking forward to the contest.  “I've only just turned professional so I'm not going to say I'm a world beater.  I'm not a world champion or even a British champion.  I've got to learn as soon as possible and these fights are an important part of that.  I've just got to keep getting more experience,” said Murray.

Friday’s show will be shown on Sky Sports Two at 10pm.

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