John Murray (boxer)

John Murray
Statistics
Real name John Murray
Rated at Lightweight
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Nationality England English
Born 20 December 1984
Manchester,
England
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights 36
Wins 33
Wins by KO 20
Losses 3
Draws 0
No contests 0

John Murray (born 20 December 1984, Manchester, England) is a retired British lightweight boxer. He was trained by Joe Gallagher at the Denton Gym in Manchester[1] and is the brother of former British Olympian Joe Murray.[2]

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 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.[4] 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.[5]

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.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8]

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.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11]

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.[12] 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".[13] 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.[14] 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".[15] 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."[15]

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.[16] 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.[17] 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.[18] 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.[18]

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 is only able to be won by Murray.

Boxing record

33 Wins (20 knockouts, 13 decisions, 0 disqualification), 3 Losses, 0 Draws[19]
Result Record Opponent Type Rd Date Location Notes
Loss 33–3United Kingdom Anthony Crolla TKO 10 (12) 19 April 2014 United Kingdom Manchester Arena, Manchester, United Kingdom
Win 33–2United Kingdom John Simpson TKO 2 (10) 1 March 2014 United Kingdom Scottish Exhibition Centre, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Win 32–2Argentina Michael Escobar TKO 4 (6) 22 November 2013 United Kingdom Bowlers Exhibition Centre, Manchester United Kingdom
Loss 31–2United States Brandon Ríos TKO 11 (12), 2:06 3 December 2011 United States Madison Square Garden, New York City, United States For vacant WBA lightweight title, which could only be won by Murray as Rios stripped for not making weight.
Loss 31–1United Kingdom Kevin Mitchell TKO 8 (12) 16 July 2011 United Kingdom Echo Arena Liverpool, United Kingdom
Win31–0Morocco Karim El Ouazghari UD 12 (12) 2 April 2011 United Kingdom York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, United Kingdom
Win30–0Ukraine Andriy Kudryavtsev TKO 9 (12) 25 September 2010 United Kingdom Robin Park Centre, Wigan, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
Win29–0United Kingdom Gary Buckland TKO 11 (12) 7 May 2010 United Kingdom Kingsway Leisure Centre, Widnes, Cheshire, United Kingdom
Win28–0United Kingdom Jon Thaxton TKO 4 (12) 3 October 2009 United Kingdom Leisure Centre, Altrincham, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
Win27–0United Kingdom Scott Lawton TKO 6 (12) 13 June 2009 United Kingdom Robin Park Centre, Wigan, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
Win26–0United Kingdom Lee McAllister TKO 8 (12) 17 January 2009 United Kingdom Robin Park Centre, Wigan, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
Win25–0United Kingdom Lee Meager TKO 5 (12) 11 July 2008 United Kingdom Robin Park Centre, Wigan, Greater Manchester], United Kingdom
Win24–0Syria Youssef Al Hamidi TKO PTS (8) 10 May 2008 United Kingdom Nottingham Arena, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Win23–0Mexico Miguel Angel Munguia UD 10 (10) 7 December 2007 United States MGM Grand Las Vegas, United States
Win22–0United Kingdom Dean Hickman TKO 4 (10) 9 November 2007 United Kingdom Ice Arena, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Win21–0United States Lorenzo Bethea TKO 7 (10) 5 May 2007 United States MGM Grand Las Vegas, United States
Win20–0Ghana Ben Odamattey TKO 5 (8) 20 January 2007 United Kingdom Alexandra Palace, Wood Green, London, United Kingdom
Win19–0United Kingdom Billy Smith UD 6 (6) 6 October 2006 United Kingdom Goresbrook Lesiure Centre, Dagenham, Essex, United Kingdom
Win18–0Togo Mouibi Sarouna UD 10 (10) 15 September 2006 United Kingdom Alexandra Palace, Wood Green, London, United Kingdom
Win17–0United Kingdom Billy Smith TKO 6 (6) 12 July 2006 United Kingdom York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, United Kingdom
Win16–0Colombia Ignacio Mendoza TD 8 (10) 2 December 2005 United Kingdom Ice Arena, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Win15–0United States Tyrone Wiggins KO 4 (8) 29 October 2005 Canada Lac Leamy Casino, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
Win14–0Azerbaijan Azad Azizov TKO 3 (8) 23 September 2005 United Kingdom George Carnall Leisure Centre, Davyhulme, Manchester, United Kingdom
Win13–0United States Johnny Walker UD 6 (6) 6 August 2005 United States St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida, United States
Win12–0France Mounir Guebbas UD 8 (8) 8 July 2005 United Kingdom Leisure Centre, Altrincham, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
Win11–0United Kingdom Karl Taylor UD 8 (10) 6 March 2005 United Kingdom Tara Leisure Centre, Shaw, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
Win10–0South Africa Harry Ramogoadi TKO 4 (4) 9 December 2004 United Kingdom Acton Court Hotel, Stockport, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
Win9–0United Kingdom Daniel Thorpe TKO 2 (6) 26 November 2004 United Kingdom Leisure Centre, Altrincham, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
Win8–0United Kingdom Ernie Smith UD 4 (4) 31 October 2004 United Kingdom Tara Leisure Centre, Shaw, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
Win7–0Poland Dariusz Snarski TKO 2 (6) 24 September 2004 United Kingdom Ice Arena, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Win6–0United Kingdom Anthony Hanna UD 4 (4) 2 June 2004 United Kingdom National Ice CentreIce Arena, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Win5–0United Kingdom John Paul Ryan TKO 1 (4) 12 March 2004 United Kingdom Ice Arena, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Win4–0United Kingdom Norman Dhalie TKO 2 (4) 30 January 2004 United Kingdom Goresbrook Leisure Centre, Dagenham, Essex, United Kingdom
Win3–0United Kingdom Jason Nesbitt UD 6 (6) 21 December 2003 United Kingdom Reebok Stadium, Bolton, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
Win2–0United Kingdom Matthew Burke KO 1 (4) 18 October 2003 United Kingdom MEN Arena, Manchester, United Kingdom
Win1–0United Kingdom Peter Buckley UD 4 (4) 6 September 2003 United Kingdom Leisure Centre, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, United Kingdom

References

Achievements
Preceded by
Jonathon Thaxton
Vacated
British Lightweight Champion
11 July 2008 – 13 June 2009
Stripped
Succeeded by
Himself
Second reign
Preceded by
Himself
First reign
British Lightweight Champion
3 October 2009 – 6 November 2010
Vacated
Succeeded by
Gavin Rees
Preceded by
Anthony Mezaache
Vacated
European Lightweight Champion
7 May 2010–2011
Vacated
Succeeded by
Gavin Rees