John Murray (boxer)

John Murray (born 20 December 1984) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2003 to 2014. He held the English lightweight title from 2007 to 2008, the British lightweight title twice between 2008 and 2010, and the European lightweight title from 2010 to 2011. He also challenged once for the vacant WBA lightweight title in 2011. John is the brother of British former Olympian Joe Murray.[1] Since retiring, Murray has opened his own gym in Reddish, where he trains both amateur and professional boxers.[2]

John Murray
Murray in 2009
Statistics
Weight(s)Lightweight
Height5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Reach70 in (178 cm)
NationalityBritish
Born (1984-12-20) 20 December 1984
Manchester, England
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights36
Wins33
Wins by KO20
Losses3

Professional career

Murray's first professional fight took place in September 2003 with a 4-round points win over journeyman Peter Buckley. Over the next two years Murray was busy in the ring scoring 15 more wins in 15 fights before in December 2005 defeating Ignacio Mendoza for the WBC World Youth lightweight title. He made one defence of his title against Moebi Sarouna and scored decent wins over Ben Odamattey and Lorenzo Bethea before defeating Dean Hickman at the Ice Arena in Nottingham for the English title. In October 2006 he was awarded the prestigious young boxer of the year award at a ceremony held in London, an award previously held by the likes of Ricky Hatton, Frank Bruno and Barry McGuigan.[3]

British Champion

Following the Hickman victory, Murray fought twice more against journeyman opponents before meeting [[Salford, Salford boxer Lee Meager for the vacant British lightweight title in July 2008. He won the belt after the referee stopped the fight in the 5th round. Following the fight Meager, a promotional stablemate, announced his retirement. The first defence of his title was made on 17 January 2009 at the Robin Park Centre in Wigan. Murray managed to keep hold of the belt after scoring an 8th round stoppage over Aberdeen's Lee McAllister.[4]

Murray's second defence of the title on 13 June 2009 against Stoke fighter Scott Lawton ended before it had even begun when Murray weighed in for the contest 2oz overweight. Despite efforts to get down to the lightweight limit, Murray was unable to shift the weight and was stripped of the belt.[5] The contest with Lawton still went ahead and resulted in a sixth round stoppage for Murray ensuring that he was still undefeated but no longer a champion.[6] As punishment for failing to make the weight in a championship contest Murray, his trainer Joe Gallagher and his manager Mike Marsden were each fined £1500 by the British Boxing Board of Control.[7]

Murray reclaimed the belt on 3 October 2009 after scoring a fourth round stoppage against former British and European champion Jonathon Thaxton at the Altrincham Leisure Centre.[8] He had his fourth official British title fight on 7 May 2010 against Welsh boxer Gary Buckland this time in Widnes. The fight was also for the vacant European title and resulted in an 11th round stoppage win for Murray who was also able to keep his Lonsdale Belt for good.[9] Murray having won the belt outright chose to vacate in order to defend his European crown with Gavin Rees winning the vacant title against John Watson on 6 November 2010.[10]

European Champion

Murray made the first defence of the European title on 25 September 2010 against the Ukrainian boxer Andriy Kudryavtsev at the Robin Park Arena in Wigan. Kudryavstev had previously fought for the title in 2009 losing to Anthony Mezaache in 12 rounds and had held a number of titles including the Ukrainian national title and the European External Union title.[11] Murray wore down his opponent to score a 9th round stoppage after a high tempo contest. Speaking after the fight Murray said that he knew the fight would be tough after watching Kudryavstev on tape and said that now he wanted to fight the top guys in the lightweight division saying he'd love a "world title shot before Christmas".[12] Murray's next fight however was to be on 2 April 2011, traveling to London's York Hall to defend against Spanish champion Karim El Ouazghari. Both fighters were warned and deducted a point during the fight which Murray eventually won on points over the 12 round distance.[13] The fight against El Ouazghari was Murray's first since joining up with promoter Frank Warren and was described by some as a "scrappy" performance. Murray summed up by saying "It wasn't my best fight, it was like having my debut again. I have cleaned up at domestic and European level and I am looking at moving on".[14] Warren himself said that he'd like to see a fight between Murray and Kevin Mitchell in the future saying "the fans would like to see, but the bottom line is that John is the champion and it's all about what he wants to do."[14]

Kevin Mitchell fight

Murray vacated the European belt in order to fight Kevin Mitchell who was not eligible to challenge for the title due to suffering a loss in his preceding fight with Michael Katsidis. Murray's trainer Joe Gallagher said that John should have been fighting for a world title but as the fight wasn't mandated then beating Mitchell would be a sure way of getting noticed.[15] Mitchell himself had said that the fight represented a "last chance saloon" for him as the fight with Katsidis had resulted in a third round stoppage. Mitchell had cited "personal problems" as having marred his preparation for that fight.[16] The two met at the Echo Arena in Liverpool on 16 July 2011 with Murray suffering a first career defeat via stoppage in the 8th round.[17] Mitchell had hurt Murray in the 7th round and finally scored a knockdown in the 8th before the referee stepped in to call a halt to the fight in what was described as a "superb" contest.[17]

World title shot

On 7 October 2011 it was confirmed that despite a first career defeat in his previous fight Murray would take on Brandon Rios for the WBA Lightweight title on 3 December in New York City. Murray lost the fight by TKO in 11th round. However, Ríos was overweight and was subsequently stripped of his title and had to pay Team Murray $20000 from his purse. The vacant WBA Lightweight title was only able to be won by Murray.

Professional boxing record
Professional record summary
36 fights 33 wins 3 losses
By knockout 20 3
By decision 13 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
36 Loss 33–3 Anthony Crolla TKO 10 (12), 2:20 19 Apr 2014 Manchester Arena, Manchester, England For WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title
35 Win 33–2 John Simpson TKO 2 (10), 2:58 1 Mar 2014 Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow, Scotland
34 Win 32–2 Michael Escobar TKO 4 (6), 1:43 22 Nov 2013 Bowlers Exhibition Centre, Manchester, England
33 Loss 31–2 Brandon Ríos TKO 11 (12), 2:06 3 Dec 2011 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US For vacant WBA lightweight title
32 Loss 31–1 Kevin Mitchell TKO 8 (12), 1:46 16 Jul 2011 Echo Arena, Liverpool, England For vacant WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title
31 Win 31–0 Karim El Ouazghari UD 12 2 Apr 2011 York Hall, London, England Retained European lightweight title
30 Win 30–0 Andriy Kudryavtsev TKO 9 (12), 2:39 25 Sep 2010 Robin Park Arena, Wigan, England Retained European lightweight title
29 Win 29–0 Gary Buckland TKO 11 (12), 1:46 7 May 2010 Kingsway Leisure Centre, Widnes, England Retained British lightweight title;
Won vacant European lightweight title
28 Win 28–0 Jon Thaxton TKO 4 (12), 2:30 3 Oct 2009 Leisure Centre, Altrincham, England Won vacant British lightweight title
27 Win 27–0 Scott Lawton TKO 6 (12), 1:50 13 Jun 2009 Robin Park Arena, Wigan, England
26 Win 26–0 Lee McAllister TKO 8 (12), 1:00 17 Jan 2009 Robin Park Arena, Wigan, England Retained British lightweight title
25 Win 25–0 Lee Meager TKO 5 (12), 2:20 11 Jul 2008 Robin Park Arena, Wigan, England Won vacant British lightweight title
24 Win 24–0 Youssef Al Hamidi PTS 8 10 May 2008 Nottingham Arena, Nottingham, England
23 Win 23–0 Miguel Angel Munguia UD 10 7 Dec 2007 MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, US
22 Win 22–0 Dean Hickman TKO 4 (10), 2:50 9 Nov 2007 Ice Centre, Nottingham, England Won vacant English lightweight title
21 Win 21–0 Lorenzo Bethea TKO 7 (10), 0:28 5 May 2007 MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, US
20 Win 20–0 Ben Odamattey TKO 5 (8), 2:33 20 Jan 2007 Alexandra Palace, London, England
19 Win 19–0 Billy Smith PTS 6 6 Oct 2006 Goresbrook Lesiure Centre, London, England
18 Win 18–0 Mouibi Sarouna UD 10 15 Sep 2006 Alexandra Palace, London, England Retained WBC Youth lightweight title
17 Win 17–0 Billy Smith TKO 6 (6), 1:36 12 Jul 2006 York Hall, London, England
16 Win 16–0 Ignacio Mendoza TD 8 (10) 2 Dec 2005 Ice Centre, Nottingham, England Won vacant WBC Youth lightweight title;
Unanimous TD after Murray could not continue due to forehead swelling
15 Win 15–0 Tyrone Wiggins KO 4 (8), 2:43 29 Oct 2005 Casino du Lac-Leamy, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
14 Win 14–0 Azad Azizov TKO 3 (8), 1:54 23 Sep 2005 George H Carnall Leisure Centre, Trafford, England
13 Win 13–0 Johnny Walker UD 6 6 Aug 2005 St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida, US
12 Win 12–0 Mounir Guebbas PTS 8 8 Jul 2005 Leisure Centre, Altrincham, England
11 Win 11–0 Karl Taylor PTS 6 6 Mar 2005 Tara Leisure Centre, Shaw, England
10 Win 10–0 Harry Ramogoadi TKO 4 (4), 2:02 9 Dec 2004 Acton Court Hotel, Stockport, England
9 Win 9–0 Daniel Thorpe TKO 2 (6), 2:36 26 Nov 2004 Leisure Centre, Altrincham, England
8 Win 8–0 Ernie Smith PTS 4 31 Oct 2004 Tara Leisure Centre, Shaw, England
7 Win 7–0 Dariusz Snarski TKO 2 (6) 24 Sep 2004 Ice Cenre, Nottingham, England
6 Win 6–0 Anthony Hanna PTS 4 2 Jun 2004 Ice Centre, Nottingham, England
5 Win 5–0 John Paul Ryan TKO 1 (4), 2:05 12 Mar 2004 Ice Centre, Nottingham, England
4 Win 4–0 Norman Dhalie TKO 2 (4), 2:37 30 Jan 2004 Goresbrook Leisure Centre, London, England
3 Win 3–0 Jason Nesbitt PTS 6 21 Dec 2003 Reebok Stadium, Bolton, England
2 Win 2–0 Matthew Burke KO 1 (4) 18 Oct 2003 MEN Arena, Manchester, England
1 Win 1–0 Peter Buckley PTS 4 6 Sep 2003 Leisure Centre, Huddersfield, England Professional debut

References
  1. Sheehan, Pat (7 August 2008). "Joe king of ring; Beijing Olympics". The Sun.
  2. Murray Machines on Facebook. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  3. "Murray joins boxing greats" Manchester Evening News
  4. "Murray retains lightweight title" BBC Sport
  5. "Murray loses time on the scales" Archived 17 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine Boxing News
  6. Murray maintains unbeaten record Sporting Life
  7. "Murray hit by £1500 fine" Manchester Evening News
  8. BBC Sport | Murray reclaims British title
  9. BBC | Murray stops Gary Buckland to win European crown
  10. "Rees hopes for European title tilt" BBC Sport
  11. Andriy Kudryavstev professional record Archived 16 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine Boxrec
  12. Sky Sports | Solid defence for Murray
  13. "Murray extends winning run" Sky Sports
  14. "John Murray happy to face Kevin Mitchell en route to world glory" The Telegraph |
  15. Trainer Talk : Joe Gallagher Archived 23 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine Boxrec
  16. BBC Sport | Mitchell admits that fight against Murray is last chance
  17. "Kevin Mitchell stops John Murray in 8th round" BBC Sport
Sporting positions
Regional boxing titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Nico Salzmann		 WBC Youth lightweight champion
2 December 2005 – August 2007
Vacated		 Vacant
Title next held by
Josesito López
Vacant
Title last held by
Scott Lawton		 English lightweight champion
9 November 2007 – 11 July 2008
Won British title		 Vacant
Title next held by
Martin Gethin
Vacant
Title last held by
Jonathon Thaxton		 British lightweight champion
11 July 2008 – 12 June 2009
Stripped		 Vacant
Title next held by
Himself
Vacant
Title last held by
Himself		 British lightweight champion
3 October 2009 – 6 November 2010
Vacated		 Vacant
Title next held by
Gavin Rees
Vacant
Title last held by
Anthony Mezaache		 European lightweight champion
7 May 2010 – June 2011
Vacated
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