By Terence Dooley
John Murray, 24, still hopes to secure a big domestic showdown with Amir Khan, the popular Manchester-based fighter, and BoxingScene.com regular, has made no bones about his desire to destroy Khan. John recently poured scorn on the tactics Khan used in his performance against Andreas Kotelnik; Murray accused Khan of adopting a boring approach in that fight.
Joe Gallagher, who trains Murray, today told the Manchester Evening News that his man is ready, willing, and more than able to take on Khan. “I would take Amir against John Murray at the drop of a hat,” Gallagher claimed. “I like Amir and he's got great heart, but despite Freddie Roach being given a lot of praise for the work he's done with him, he's not ironed out all the flaws. We would expose him - it is just a matter of getting that one opportunity.”
Khan is the silver boy of British, an Olympic medal winner; Murray is a blue-collar fighter, he dragged himself up from his Ardwick roots to reach the summit of the domestic lightweight scene.
Gallagher believes that a fight between the two would have some special ingredients. “Amir is the nation's favourite,” Gallagher continued. “I see Khan vs Murray like Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler. Murray would be like Hagler - the hard worker from the streets and Khan is the golden boy. It would be a great fight and there would be more of a turn out than there was for the Kotelnik fight.”
Murray lost his British lightweight title on the scales in June; he bounced back from that disappointment by hammering Scott Lawton to defeat in six rounds. John now has Jon Thaxton in his sights; they have been mandated to fight for the vacant British title. A Khan match looks unlikely; however, Murray will be ready and able should the Khan call come.
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