John Murray: From Ardwick’s Square Gardens To MSG?
By Terence Dooley
Australia’s Michael Katsidis recently told Rick Reeno that he could be lured back to the UK for a WBO title fight with John Murray, 29-0 (17), should Juan Manuel Marquez vacate the title in order to pursue bigger things. Michael, nicked named ‘The Great’ in tribute to his Greek ancestry, has his long-term sights set on WBA light-welterweight title-holder Amir Khan and sees a fight against Murray as a chance to smoke Amir out. Certainly, another barnstorming UK showcase would increase the calls for a Katsidis-Khan contest.
“I was made up,” beamed Murray, ranked #3 by the WBC and #6 by the WBO, when told of Katsidis’ interest. “But I’ve got to get my [25th September] European title defence against Andriy Kudriatsev out the way first and then look for a world title shot because I’m now also mandated for a WBC eliminator with Daniel Estrada. Michael has said that he’d like to come over here and take me on for the WBO title if Marquez moves onto bigger fights – I’d love to have it with Michael because I’ve got a load of respect for him.
“I recently watched Katsidis against [Kevin] Mitchell and saw enough to think that if I get Katsidis this year then I could be celebrating Christmas as a world champion. If Marquez moves up then me and Katsidis will have a war for the world title. I’m not trying to disrespect anyone or look past my European defence – I have to keep an eye on the top five fighters in my division, otherwise why bother with the sport? I’m not long off that level so need to make sure that I know what I’m getting if I meet one of those guys in the ring.”
Murray’s Frazier-esque approach favours young, fresh fighters, the Mancunian is aware that his love of inside fighting polarises fans, with critics maintaining that Murray will be hit too hard, too often to make it to the top-level and that his career path is destined to end in early retirement. However, the 25-year-old plays down suggestions that he is nothing but a face-first fiend, claiming that his approach plays to his strengths – intensity, pressure and physicality – whilst maximising his ability to inflict damage.
Still, Murray is the first to admit that he has taken a few shots, once claiming that, ‘You can’t go out in the rain and not expect to get wet’, although he vigorously maintains that his defence allows him to stay close without getting tagged by consecutive punches in a similar vein to James Toney and Roberto Duran, both of whom stayed close enough to be tagged but would often slip, block or parry the follow-through blows.
“People underestimate me and don’t give me credit for how I fight,” blasted Murray. “I was talking to [trainer] Joe [Gallagher] the other day and we were saying that if I came from Mexico and fought in the States people would be raving about my pressure style, my defence and my body shots – I am a fighter who likes to take people apart. People look at me and think I’m pretty basic, a come forward fighter, but if that is all there is to my game then I’d have been exposed by now.”
Murray pointed to his win over Jon Thaxton, arguing that he adopted a patient approach due to Jon’s power before laughing off the claim that his style is one-dimensional. “If my name was Juan Muarez then I’d probably be seen as a brilliant inside fighter who doesn’t mind getting into the zone and using more than just footwork to avoid shots,” shrugged Murray.
“People who share the ring with me get through a few rounds and think, ‘Bloody hell, he’s better than I thought’. I am seen as a Neanderthal who just rumbles forward but there is more to it than that. [Matthew] Macklin is a similar fighter to me, we talk about it often, he says that people underestimate me at their own peril.”
However, Murray’s skin was damaged and bruised in the Youssef Al Hamidi, Lee Meager and Lee McAllister wins, plus there was that freakish lump to the forehead in the WBC Youth title fight against Ignacio Mendoza which resulted in an eight-round TD win. Naysayers maintain that only Murray’s chin, and the relative lack of pop of recent opponents, Jon Thaxton aside, who was written off as a shot fighter, has kept him at title level. Murray, again, begs to differ, citing head clashes brought on by his style as the main reason for his bumps and bruises.
“I parry shots, block them with my gloves and when I get hit I make sure I avoid the follow-on shot – I feel that I don’t get hit cleanly all that often in my fights. I do get facial damage but because of my style I run the risk of walking into a lot of head clashes and often the injuries are not the result of clean punches. I had a cut on the side of my head early in the Hamidi fight and that came from a clash of heads. I think people underestimate how often I avoid the big shots.”
A solid defence is often equated with a low-left, nimble footwork and zesty reflexes, yet there are a number of ways to avoid punches, each of them differing depending on approach, stylistic concerns and range, Murray feels that his own defence, a high guard coupled with parrying, blocking and stepping off, suits his attacking ethos.
“There is a lot to be said for breaking down your opponents systematically, you break them down physically and break their spirit before getting them out off there,” he said before making a final case for his perceived lack of defensive nous.
“I am very good at what I do. I like fighting in this style and it also guarantees excitement and entertainment. I hope more fans get onboard and that we can all head towards a world title.”
My appreciation of Murray’s style stems from his sparring sessions with Paul Truscott in September 2007. Murray was heading towards British lightweight title contention and was due to fight Dean Hickman for the English belt, a fight he won by fourth-round TKO in the November; Truscott was 7-0 and a fine prospect. Both men would go onto win titles, with Paul winning the Commonwealth featherweight title by beating Osumanu Akaba on points in May 2008. ‘Trussy’ lost his title to John Simpson the following January, a lack of pop in his punches proving a huge handicap against the teak tough, milk bottle-skinned Scot.
As the rounds, and days, passed it became clear that one of Murray’s greatest assets was his chilling stoicism; Truscott would bark encouragements to himself between, after and during rounds; Murray would stalk his corner during the breaks, occasionally breaking into a three-note whistle as he impatiently waited for the rest session to end. This rigid concentration has now been transferred to his fights, with the boxer believing that people are now seeing what a smattering of writers, photographers and stalwarts had seen years ago.
“I work hard in training and what you see on fight night is the result of hard work in the gym and how we work on different strategies for breaking different guys down. I have had good tactics for each fight and that is why the results have been so good,” opined Murray, who feels he has benefited from staying with one trainer for the bulk of his fighting life.
“I met Joe [Gallagher] when I was fourteen,” he revealed. “I started training with him and in my first season with him we went to the Schoolboys final, I lost that one but it was a good year and I got to the England team with Joe. I’d had two amateur fights, a win and loss, before I met Joe, once I met him I was heading for finals and boxed for England against South Africa.
“I knew that we had clicked and knew that Joe would make it as a professional boxing trainer because I’d seen him work with Stephen Foster Junior. I had two seasons with Joe and decided to go for it. Our relationship has always been strong. Once I turned pro I knew I’d get good advice from him and we’ve been together ever since. The energy is still there. When people come and watch us train they see the bond between us and that is a crucial ingredient to my career.”
He added: “Of course, we’ll shout and scream at each other but that is part and parcel of the sport. We spend a lot of time together so there are times when I can be down and he has to give me the kick up the arse that I need, doesn’t mean I have to like it at the time but I know it is what I need. Joe is really good, he can push me he’s with us through it all and makes sure that we do everything we’re supposed to do. Joe is on at me all the time and I need that to get the best out off myself.
“Joe will watch the tapes of opponents and that allows me to think about the conditioning and training and to go home and switch off. I can do that knowing that Joe knows all about the guy, what shots to use and is doing the homework. When we get close to the fight we put our heads together and work out the best way to do the kid.
“I am at the stage where I’m fine-tuning my skills and I need to be ticking over in the gym constantly. I used to fight and then go missing for a few days. Between this fight and the [Gary] Buckland one I’ve been in the gym constantly, even if it is only twice a week it gives me something to be thinking about and keeps me sharp. I’ve had ten-weeks preparation for this next one and am not starting from scratch like I used to do. I am in good shape all the time because I’ve my best years ahead of me and can’t be the way I was earlier in my career, these are tough fights and I don’t want to fail now.”
Murray was reputed to be a notorious refueller between fights early in his career, he also blotted his copybook twice; firstly, by joking during a televised interview that he was, ‘Going to have a few drinks and a few joints’, during his Christmas celebrations; there was also the matter of losing his British title on the scales after missing the weight by 2oz for last June’s British title defence against Scott Lawton. Both errors saw Murray brought before the BBBoC. Though a joke, clearly, the remark on Channel M led many within the game to nod sagely and declare that Murray’s lifestyle choices would be his ruination.
Murray, though, used the controversies as a wake up call, he contacted me after the Lawton weigh-in to admit that he’d made a mistake and had set himself back in the eyes of some. When asked how he would ingratiate himself with the critics he declared that, ‘I am going to knuckle down and smash everyone they put in front of me’, as well as hinting that he could finish Scott early in the fight. It wasn’t to be, Lawton weathered a first-round knockdown and barrage but the popular Stoke-based boxer was unable to stop Murray’s charge, the chastened former champion later regained his belt by stopping Thaxton in four.
“Yeah, definitely, I’ve got all that out my system!” laughed Murray when reminded of his early lapses. “I see fighters who’ve been at it (boxing) since they were eleven-years-old, the dieting and fighting and everything else, and they feel burned out by the time they get to my age. They just feel that they want to eat as soon as a fight is over and the next thing you know they are big whales between fights and are on the piss between one fight and the next. They are still good fighters but they haven’t got it all out their system when they were younger and are thinking that when they retire they’ll be too old for parties and won’t be able to enjoy their success. I want to get the success now and then enjoy it when I’ve retired.”
How, then, did Murray go about mending his ways? “Well, I’ve done all my partying,” he smiled, “I’ve been out and had those good times and now just want to concentrate on my boxing. I’ve had a spell of enjoying life and now want a four, five-year spell where I’m just hard at the training.
“I’ve always said that I could handle a defeat or not making it to the top if I’ve given it my best. If I’ve done everything I can and given myself the best then I’ll be able to walk away from the sport knowing that I gave it my best shot. I won’t have any regrets and won’t look back with bitterness.”
Murray harbours hopes of headlining shows in Las Vegas or Madison Square Garden, the ‘Mecca of Boxing’, to do this he needs to win titles, impress US fans and scalp the likes of Katsidis. The fighter feels that he has the will to go all the way, citing a desire forged in Ardwick’s square gardens.
“I just love it,” he said when explaining this need to fight. “I’ve always been around boxing and have boxed in one way or another since I was a kid. I have two brothers who boxed, Stephen and Joe, and being part of a family of brothers means that you when we played we would always want to play toy fighting. We’d watch the Rocky films and then put a sheet down in the backroom or garden and have a spar. My dad would give us boxing gloves, he’d always been into his boxing, and we’d spar between ourselves. It has always been a part of my life.
“Growing up for me was all about fighting. I didn’t start boxing properly until late, fourteen, but I’d been fighting since I was wearing nappies. I was just living in a fighting environment with my brothers and mates; it just comes naturally to me and has done for a long time, longer than I remember.”
He continued: “When I’m in the ring I feel like a machine. I switch on and just put my work out. I’m very stony-faced when I fight. I really, really love it; nothing bothers me in boxing because I’ve seen it all in fights and in sparring. I’m trained to give and take punches so I can’t complain when I get hit in a fight – I actually enjoy it! You get hit by a shot and think your first thought is that you want to avoid the next one, get to them when they are open and go, ‘Bang, bang, bang!’, it is a mental thing.”
For many, this writer included, it is an unfathomable phenomenon. Sure, we all love the sport and appreciate the fighters but there is a huge gap between appreciation and participation. Murray thinks that all boxers, no matter the style they adopt, should be prepared to go beyond the pale when the time comes.
“It’s that feeling of being in a battle, of really pushing myself. I love it when someone stands with me and trades. It is about giving it our all in do-or-die fights. I don’t get it often but love it when that type of fight happens. I hope that when I step up in class more people will be able to have some give-and-take with me and that I get to really dish it out to someone who can take it all and throw it back. I want those battles of will and blood and guts in there,” said Murray, who admits that this outlook makes it hard to be a spectator.
“It does my head in when I’ve not got a fight lined up,” mused the 2006 Boxing Writer's Club ‘Young Boxer of the Year’. “I’m sure other boxers are the same. When you aren’t in training for a fight you might have the odd day off but you get bored and end up down the gym anyway. Then I see the other lads sparring and ask Joe if I can jump in with them for a few rounds. If I go to a show and I’ve not got a fight coming up I find it frustrating because I’m thinking, ‘I wish I was in there fighting tonight!’ It is one of those things –watching fights on TV is very frustrating because I just want to jump into the TV and start throwing shots around.”
“A fighter should enjoy fighting. This is not just my job, it is my hobby – I even love the training. When I stop training for a few days I get restless,” admitted Murray, a sign, perhaps, that he will take up the coaching mitts when the time comes to quit?
“It is something I’ve thought about,” he revealed. “I think I’ve got a lot to offer and would be good at it. After I’ve finished I’ll look into being a trainer myself but for now I’m just going to motor on.”
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