By Terence Dooley
British middleweight Martin Murray certainly isn’t short of confidence, the St Helens-based boxer grabbed his first titles in 2010 – the WBA Inter-Continental strap and the Commonwealth belt – and is now targeting the two biggest names in the domestic 160lb division.
"If I could only have two fights next year, firstly I'd face Darren Barker and then I'd fight Matthew Macklin. No disrespect to either but I'd beat them,” declared Murray when speaking to John Evans of Livefight.com.
Martin is currently 21-0 (8) and one of Hatton Promotion’s brightest young boxers. The 2004 ABA welterweight title winner overcame stints in prison for fighting and other minor offences and has often praised the sport of boxing for helping him turn things around.
He added: “I always boxed from being ten years old and fought as an amateur until I was 21. Then I made some mistakes, went down the wrong path and ended up in prison. When I got out I won the ABA championships and represented England but then had to go back to prison over some earlier incidents. I’ve been really active in the three years since then and made a lot of progress. As well as my trainer, Oliver Harrison, my friends and family have supported and helped me a lot.”
Indeed, the 28-year-old believes that Harrison, who guided both Jamie Moore and Amir Khan, has played a key part in his recent surge; he praised the work and effort put into him by the Salford-based coach.
“Oliver improves your bad points and makes your good points even better. We do a lot of work on technique. Some days I'll do rounds with people of every weight in the gym working my technique. Other days I might do 12 rounds with lighter weight guys just working purely on my defence. Another day we'll change it minute by minute. A minute on attack, a minute on defence then a minute on the jab,” he revealed.
With his impressive physique, 6’ and seemingly comfortable at the weight, Harrison’s technical nous and the investment of Ricky Hatton, it could be that 2011 turns out be Murray’s year, although he will not have an easy ride domestically as long as Barker and Macklin are around.
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