By Terence Dooley
Martin Murray powered to a muscular win over Nick Blackwell at the Robin Park Centre, Wigan on Saturday night to claim the vacant British middleweight title. Blackwell was over-matched, his 8-0 (2) record looked good on paper only for Murray, now 23-0 (10), to tear through his defence at will, forcing the Trowbridge man to retire after five rounds.
Murray now holds the British, Commonwealth and WBA Inter-Continental 160lb belts. The six-footer’s long-term goal is to secure a showdown with Matthew Macklin or Darren Barker, both of whom have world title tilts on their plate at the moment and would be much more likely to face one another early in 2012 even if their world championship dreams come to naught.
The 28-year-old aims to use the time to perfect his skills and place himself in prime position to take over the British middleweight scene.
“It’s a platform to go onto bigger and better things and that shows the quality of the British fighter. Hopefully it can be my platform for me because we feel we’re ready. I’ve never felt I’ve been 100% in a fight. Boxing is a marathon, not a sprint, and you’re always learning. But we’re ready for a world title fight now, we’ve just got to wait and see if they come,” said Murray when speaking to The Liverpool Echo.
He added: “To be honest, if I go in the ring feeling good, then there are not many boxers who will go twelve rounds with me. I did give Blackwell the full respect he deserved. He’d had eight fights and took this fight when many others would not have done. It was a bit of added pressure for me because I had everything to lose, he had nothing to lose on Saturday night.”
Murray is currently ranked at number five by the WBA. Ricky Hatton, his promoter, has a track record when it comes to securing title shots. ‘The Hitman’ may attempt to move his charge into a fight with WBA holder Gennady Golovkin, 21-0 (18), in a bid to ensure that the St. Helens-based boxer holds a huge bargaining chip if and when Barker or Macklin become available.
Please send news and views to neckodeemus@hotmail.co.uk
