Martin Murray (boxer)


Martin Murray is a British former professional boxer who competed 2007 to 2020. He held the WBA interim middleweight title from 2011 to 2014, the British and Commonwealth middleweight titles between 2010 and 2012, and challenged five times for a world title.
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Professional career

Early career

Murray's professional debut came in September 2007 with a victory over Jamie Ambler at the Robin Park Arena in Wigan. He fought once more that year to finish 2007 with a record of 2–0. A busy 2008 saw Murray fight seven more times scoring seven victories over a series of journeyman opponents. On 22 November 2008, he stepped into the limelight by taking part in the fourth series of the Prizefighter tournament shown live on sky. He scored wins over Joe Rea and Danny Butler before beating former English title challenger Cello Renda in the final to claim the Β£25,000 first prize. Following the tournament victory Murray marked time with wins over fellow prospect Kevin Concepcion in April 2009 and former Commonwealth title challenger Thomas Awinbono in July of the same year.

Ricky Hatton Promotions

Murray left VIP Promotions after the Awinbono fight to sign with Hatton Promotions. His first fight was on the undercard of Matthew Macklin's European Title win at the Manchester Velodrome. Murray faced George Aduashvili of Georgia on 25 September 2009 and scored a first-round knockout victory. Following the win Murray said that former British champion Wayne Elcock was on his radar as a man he'd like to beat in order to push himself into future title contention. Murray's next fight on 27 November 2009 instead saw the man from St Helens outpoint Belarus boxer Sergey Khomitsky with a points victory over 8 rounds. In his first fight of 2010 Murray continued his winning run against international opposition with a victory over the Georgian middleweight champion Shalva Jomardashvili. A shot at the Commonwealth title against Tanzanian boxer Francis Cheka should then have subsequently followed. However, Cheka was refused a work permit and on 24 May 2010 in Sheffield, Murray instead defeated late replacement Lee Noble in another non-title fight en route to recording his 19th straight victory.
Two years later, Murray gave Nick Blackwell the first loss of his career and won the vacant British Middleweight title on 18 July 2011.

Commonwealth champion

On 16 July 2010 Murray finally fought for a first professional title, the middleweight version of the Commonwealth crown. His opponent at the fight in the Bolton Arena was Australian Peter Mitrevski Jr. Murray went the full 12 round distance for the first time in his career and won on a unanimous points decision. Despite the win Murray claimed that he had felt "sluggish" throughout the fight adding that "I know I can perform much better". He followed up the win on 26 November 2010 with a fight for a second title in a row at the Bolton Arena. His opponent, Brazilian Carlos Nascimento, was the co-challenger for the WBA version of the inter-continental title with Murray winning by stoppage in the third round.
Murray fought against Felix Sturm on 2 December 2011 at the SAP-Arena in Mannheim, Germany for the WBA Middleweight Title. The fight went 12 rounds and ended up being scored a controversial draw.

Second world title attempt

It was confirmed going into his with fight Jorge Navarro at Manchester Arena on 24 November 2012 for the interim WBA World Middleweight Championship, that if Murray were to defeat Navarro, he would be the next in line for a shot at the WBA World Middleweight Championship currently held by Gennady Golovkin. Murray, now 25–0–1, defeated the undefeated Venezuelan by TKO and would fight for the world title against World Middleweight Champion Sergio MartΓ­nez in Argentina on 27 April 2013. Murray lost a close, controversial decision in a fight where he put Martinez on the canvas twice but with the referee only counting one knockdown.

Third world title attempt

Following four solid decision victories in the aftermath of his loss to Sergio MartΓ­nez, Murray was given the opportunity to face off against the WBA and IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin. Despite a spirited effort, Murray was ultimately stopped for the first time in his career after referee Luis Pabon witnessed him take several hard unanswered shots from Golovkin.

Fourth world title attempt

After three comeback wins, all of them ending early, Murray was set to challenge for a world title for the fourth time in his career, against Artur Abraham for the WBO super-middleweight title. Murray fought very well on Abraham's home turf in Germany, however, that was not enough for the judges, who scored the fight, 116–111, 115–112 and 112–115 in favor of the home fighter, awarding him the split-decision win. After the fight, a gutted Murray said he was contemplating retirement after another failed attempt to win a world title.
On 25 June 2016, Murray fought George Groves in a WBA final eliminator. Groves pressed Murray throughout most of the fight, earning him a unanimous decision win, with scores of 118–110 on all three judges' scorecards.
On 23 June 2018, Murray fought and defeated Roberto Garcia in a foul-filled fight. Murray had some success with his jab and landed more punches compared to Garcia, which was enough for all three judges to call the fight in favor of Murray.
In his next fight, Murray fought against former champion Hassan N'Dam. Despite scoring a knockdown, Murray did not do enough to earn the win. N'Dam won the fight via majority decision, with only one judge scoring the fight a draw, 114–114, while the other two saw it 117–112 and 116–112 in favor of N'Dam.

Retirement

Murray announced his retirement 3 weeks after his loss to Saunders. He ended his career with 39 wins, 6 loses, and 1 draw.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
46LossBilly Joe SaundersUD124 Dec 2020The SSE Arena, London, EnglandFor WBO super-middleweight title
45Win39–5–1Sladan JanjaninPTS815 Nov 2019Liverpool Olympia, Liverpool, England
44Win38–5–1Rui Manuel PavanitoPTS1012 Jul 2019Liverpool Olympia, Liverpool, England
43Loss37–5–1Hassan N'Dam N'JikamMD1222 Dec 2018Manchester Arena, Manchester, EnglandLost WBC Silver middleweight title
42Win37–4–1Roberto GarcΓ­aUD1223 Jun 2018The O2 Arena, London, EnglandWon WBC Silver middleweight title
41Win36–4–1Arman TorosyanKO4, 2:3916 Sep 2017Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
40Win35–4–1Gabriel Rosado1222 Apr 2017Echo Arena, Liverpool, EnglandWon vacant WBA Inter-Continental middleweight title
39Win34–4–1Nuhu LawalUD1212 Nov 2016Salle des Etoiles, Monte Carlo, MonacoWon vacant WBA Continental super-middleweight title
38Loss33–4–1George GrovesUD1225 Jun 2016The O2 Arena, London, EnglandFor WBA International super-middleweight title
37Win33–3–1Cedric SperaTKO2, 1:477 May 2016Manchester Arena, Manchester, England
36Loss32–3–1Arthur AbrahamSD1221 Nov 2015TUI Arena, Hanover, GermanyFor WBO super-middleweight title
35Win32–2–1Jose Miguel TorresTKO5, 2:195 Sep 2015First Direct Arena, Leeds, EnglandWon vacant WBA Inter-Continental super-middleweight title
34Win31–2–1Mirzet BajrektarevicTKO5, 2:5118 Jul 2015Manchester Arena, Manchester, England
33Win30–2–1George BeroshviliKO2, 2:2926 Jun 2015Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
32Loss29–2–1Gennadiy GolovkinTKO11, 0:5021 Feb 2015Salle des Etoiles, Monte Carlo, MonacoFor WBA, IBO, and WBC interim middleweight titles
31Win29–1–1Domenico Spada7, 1:1925 Oct 2014Salle des Etoiles, Monte Carlo, MonacoRetained WBC Silver middleweight title;
Unanimous TD after Spada was cut from an accidental head clash
30Win28–1–1Max BursakUD1221 Jun 2014Casino, Monte Carlo, MonacoWon vacant WBC Silver middleweight title
29Win27–1–1Ishmael TettehRTD6, 3:0023 Apr 2014Emperors Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa
28Win26–1–1Sergey KhomitskyPTS814 Dec 2013ExCeL, London, England
27Loss25–1–1Sergio MartΓ­nezUD1227 Apr 2013JosΓ© Amalfitani Stadium, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaFor WBC and The Ring middleweight titles
26Win25–0–1Jorge NavarroTKO6, 1:4024 Nov 2012Manchester Arena, Manchester, EnglandWon Interim WBA middleweight title
25Win24–0–1Karim AchourPTS1016 Jun 2012Manchester Velodrome, Manchester, England
24Draw23–0–1Felix Sturm122 Dec 2011SAP Arena, Mannheim, GermanyFor WBA (Super) middleweight title
23Win23–0Nick BlackwellRTD5, 3:0018 Jun 2011Robin Park Arena, Wigan, EnglandRetained Commonwealth and WBA Inter-Continental middleweight titles;
Won vacant British middleweight title
22Win22–0John Anderson CarvalhoTKO4, 2:2016 Apr 2011MEN Arena, Manchester, EnglandRetained WBA Inter-Continental middleweight title
21Win21–0Carlos NascimentoTKO3, 1:4026 Nov 2010Reebok Stadium, Bolton, EnglandWon vacant WBA Inter-Continental middleweight title
20Win20–0Peter Mitrevski Jr.UD1216 Jul 2010Bolton Arena, Bolton, EnglandWon vacant Commonwealth middleweight title
19Win19–0Lee Noble3, 3:0021 May 2010Ponds Forge, Sheffield, England
18Win18–0Shalva JomardashviliPTS619 Feb 2010Fenton Manor Sports Complex, Stoke-on-Trent, England
17Win17–0Sergey KhomitskyPTS827 Nov 2009Robin Park Arena, Wigan, England
16Win16–0George AduashviliKO1, 3:0225 Sep 2009Manchester Velodrome, Manchester, England
15Win15–0Thomas AwinbonoPTS825 Jul 2009Sutton Sports Centre, St Helens, England
14Win14–0Kevin ConcepcionTKO3, 0:0117 Apr 2009Indoor Sports Centre, Leigh, England
13Win13–0Mikheil KhutsishviliTKO4, 1:136 Mar 2009Robin Park Arena, Wigan, England
12Win12–0Cello RendaSD322 Nov 2008York Hall, London, EnglandPrizefighter 4: middleweight final
11Win11–0Danny Butler322 Nov 2008York Hall, London, EnglandPrizefighter 4: middleweight semi-final
10Win10–0Joe Rea322 Nov 2008York Hall, London, EnglandPrizefighter 4: middleweight quarter-final
9Win9–0Joseph Sovijus1, 1:0312 Oct 2008Indoor Sports Centre, Leigh, England
8Win8–0Carl WildTKO2, 1:2514 Sep 2008Robin Park Arena, Wigan, England
7Win7–0Michael ReclouxPTS615 Jun 2008Sutton Leisure Centre, St Helens, England
6Win6–0Dean WalkerPTS623 May 2008Robin Park Arena, Wigan, England
5Win5–0James TuckerPTS418 Apr 2008York Hall, London, England
4Win4–0Michael BanbulaPTS616 Mar 2008Everton Park Sports Centre, Liverpool, England
3Win3–0Dean WalkerPTS616 Feb 2008Tower Circus, Blackpool, England
2Win2–0Phil Callaghan1, 1:2126 Oct 2007Robin Park Arena, Wigan, England
1Win1–0Jamie Ambler622 Sep 2007Robin Park Arena, Wigan, England