John Murray: Khan Needs To Fight Bradley or Alexander
By Terence Dooley
Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz contest the WBO and WBA lightweight titles at the Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas later tonight as they bid to match the ebb and flow, not to mention excitement, of their February 2009 epic. Marquez, 50-5-1 (37 early), came from behind to KO the younger man at 2:40 of the ninth session, turning the fight with a beautiful right uppercut after absorbing Diaz’s pressure during the early-to-mid rounds.
Juan went onto to lose a catchweight encounter to Floyd Mayweather in September of last year. Floyd, 146lb, flaunted the stipulated weight agreement, coming in 4lb heavier than Marquez, 142lb, on the scales. Mayweather then rubbed salt into the wound by refusing to divulge his fight-night weight. Marquez, however, was never in the bout; his biggest moment of success, a flush right hand to the chin of Floyd in round two, saw him punished by ‘Money’, who floored Marquez with a left hook in the same stanza before gliding to a lopsided points decision.
Diaz, 35-3 (17), has since won and lost against Paulie Malignaggi for the NABO 140lb title; the ‘Baby Bull’ needs to avenge last year’s loss in order to win back the titles he wrenched from Acelino Freitas back in 2007.
John Murray, the British and European lightweight boss, will be keeping a close eye on the fight, the Mancunian is set to defend his EBU belt against Andriy Kudriavtsev here in Manchester on the 25th of September, and his long-term aim is to meet either Marquez or Diaz. The 29-0 (17) fighter believes that Houston’s Diaz will get his revenge.
“No, I’ve gone for Diaz,” said Murray when asked if he’ll be plumping for Marquez. “I think he was winning it last time and let Marquez back into it before getting taken out by a sweet shot. Diaz is a bit younger, a bit fresher, and Marquez is coming down in weight. Diaz will have learned a lot from the last fight, he’ll have a better gameplan and he’ll win on points.”
Murray has also heard word of Amir Khan’s Twitter war with ‘impostor Tim Bradley’, the 25-year-old laughed off the battle of the ‘tweets’ before revealing that he agrees with Bradley’s brutal assessment of a potential Khan-Marquez showdown.
“I’ve looked at all the opponents Amir’s shouted out for his next fight and they’re all at lightweight. Fair enough, his last fight was against a light-welter in Malignaggi and he said he wanted Maidana or Bradley or Alexander next. Now the time has come around to making his next fight and the guys he’s negotiated with, Marquez, Katsidis and me, are all lightweights,” blasted Murray.
“I think Amir should concentrate on the top guys in his division rather than fighting smaller men. He’s meant to be the light-welterweight world champion, not the between-the-weights world champion. I want to fight the best in my division, not the best in the super-featherweight division – Amir should take a leaf out off that book and take on the best guys he can in his division because he can get those fights. Why avoid the best at your weight?”
Indeed, Murray feels that Amir failed to take care of domestic business down at lightweight, with Khan opting for Willie Limond’s Commonwealth crown in 2007 instead of trying to secure a fight with Thaxton or Murray, who both held the British title during Khan’s 135lb run. Shah Khan recently claimed that both Thaxton and Murray were offered opportunities to fight Amir only for their excessive monetary demands to nix the negotiations at a preliminary stage. Whatever the truth, the British fans were robbed of a thrilling round robin between Khan, Murray and Thaxton.
“A lot of people already think that Amir’s avoided people to become world champion. It is sometimes not about who you beat to get to a world title but who you avoid to get to a world title,” continued Murray.
“If he wants credibility from his peers in boxing, and the fans in general, then he needs to fight the best and prove that he’s the best, he needs to show that he belongs where he is. Yeah, a fight with me and Amir Khan was talked about recently but I think I need to get a world title to have a chance of it happening. Freddie Roach likes his catchweight fights so why not have me and Amir get it on at a catchweight? We could go to 9st 11lb or 9st 12lb and have a catchweight world title fight, everyone else is having them.”
Still, there is plenty of glory to be found at lightweight, should Marquez win tonight’s fight he may vacate the titles in order to pursue a final marquee fight. Diaz, Michael Katsidis and Murray are all highly ranked by the WBO. Billy Graham, who guided Ricky Hatton to the top, recently told Boxingscene that Murray is ready for the likes of Diaz, Katsidis and Marquez.
“Murray is a natural fighter,” purred Graham, “(he is) a really strong kid who is fearless and one tough fucker. He’s strong as a bull at the weight and wouldn’t have to go looking for Diaz or Marquez if they fought. Why not take them on now? Katsidis is there for him as well.”
Graham’s belief in Murray was boosted during John’s sparring sessions with Ricky Hatton; he divulged that Murray came into those sessions without any fear and stood his ground with ‘The Hitman’. John believes that the eighteen rounds he shared with Hatton back in 2007 have held him in good stead.
“It is unbelievable”, reminisced Murray, “that kind of sparring experience is second-to-none. I was very lucky when I turned over as a pro, [trainer] Joe [Gallagher] would drive me around the country for spars with the likes of James Hare and Bobby Vanzie, they were champions at the time and I was just a young novice as a pro. Getting those rounds helped me out.
“When the time came to fight for titles, the sparring I’d had made me feel like I belonged at that level. You’ve got to learn as much as you can, especially from someone like Ricky. We did eighteen rounds in a week and I learned so much. Ricky has fought in front of packed stadiums and it was good to ask him questions and get his take on things. I want to get to his level so I tried to pick his brain and get his opinions, he gave me good advice and it is paying off now.
“It was before his training really got going for the Mayweather fight and he was great to spar against. You really have to be on the ball against Ricky. You could spar another fighter and just go through the motions but you can’t with a fighter like Ricky, he showed me new things and keep me ticking over mentally, it was really good.”
However, Murray has one lingering regret. “I’d have loved to have done a few twelve rounders with Ricky,” he enthused.
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