John Murray (boxer)


John Murray 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. Since retiring, Murray has opened his own gym in Reddish, where he trains both amateur and professional boxers.

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.

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.
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. 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. 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.
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. 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. 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.

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. 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". 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. 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". 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."

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. 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. 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. 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.

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

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
36Loss33–3 Anthony CrollaTKO10, 2:2019 Apr 2014 Manchester Arena, Manchester, EnglandFor WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title
35Win33–2 John SimpsonTKO2, 2:581 Mar 2014 Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow, Scotland
34Win32–2 Michael EscobarTKO4, 1:4322 Nov 2013 Bowlers Exhibition Centre, Manchester, England
33Loss31–2 Brandon RíosTKO11, 2:063 Dec 2011 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USFor vacant WBA lightweight title
32Loss31–1 Kevin MitchellTKO8, 1:4616 Jul 2011 Echo Arena, Liverpool, EnglandFor vacant WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title
31Win31–0 Karim El OuazghariUD122 Apr 2011 York Hall, London, EnglandRetained European lightweight title
30Win30–0 Andriy KudryavtsevTKO9, 2:3925 Sep 2010 Robin Park Arena, Wigan, EnglandRetained European lightweight title
29Win29–0 Gary BucklandTKO11, 1:467 May 2010 Kingsway Leisure Centre, Widnes, EnglandRetained British lightweight title;
Won vacant European lightweight title
28Win28–0 Jon ThaxtonTKO4, 2:303 Oct 2009 Leisure Centre, Altrincham, EnglandWon vacant British lightweight title
27Win27–0 Scott LawtonTKO6, 1:5013 Jun 2009 Robin Park Arena, Wigan, England
26Win26–0 Lee McAllisterTKO8, 1:0017 Jan 2009 Robin Park Arena, Wigan, EnglandRetained British lightweight title
25Win25–0 Lee MeagerTKO5, 2:2011 Jul 2008 Robin Park Arena, Wigan, EnglandWon vacant British lightweight title
24Win24–0 Youssef Al HamidiPTS810 May 2008 Nottingham Arena, Nottingham, England
23Win23–0 Miguel Angel MunguiaUD107 Dec 2007 MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, US
22Win22–0 Dean HickmanTKO4, 2:509 Nov 2007 Ice Centre, Nottingham, EnglandWon vacant English lightweight title
21Win21–0 Lorenzo BetheaTKO7, 0:285 May 2007 MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, US
20Win20–0 Ben OdamatteyTKO5, 2:3320 Jan 2007 Alexandra Palace, London, England
19Win19–0 Billy SmithPTS66 Oct 2006 Goresbrook Lesiure Centre, London, England
18Win18–0 Mouibi SarounaUD1015 Sep 2006 Alexandra Palace, London, EnglandRetained WBC Youth lightweight title
17Win17–0 Billy SmithTKO6, 1:3612 Jul 2006 York Hall, London, England
16Win16–0 Ignacio Mendoza8 2 Dec 2005 Ice Centre, Nottingham, EnglandWon vacant WBC Youth lightweight title;
Unanimous TD after Murray could not continue due to forehead swelling
15Win15–0 Tyrone WigginsKO4, 2:4329 Oct 2005 Casino du Lac-Leamy, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
14Win14–0 Azad AzizovTKO3, 1:5423 Sep 2005 George H Carnall Leisure Centre, Trafford, England
13Win13–0 Johnny Walker66 Aug 2005 St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida, US
12Win12–0 Mounir GuebbasPTS88 Jul 2005 Leisure Centre, Altrincham, England
11Win11–0 Karl TaylorPTS66 Mar 2005 Tara Leisure Centre, Shaw, England
10Win10–0 Harry RamogoadiTKO4, 2:029 Dec 2004 Acton Court Hotel, Stockport, England
9Win9–0 Daniel ThorpeTKO2, 2:3626 Nov 2004 Leisure Centre, Altrincham, England
8Win8–0 Ernie SmithPTS431 Oct 2004 Tara Leisure Centre, Shaw, England
7Win7–0 Dariusz SnarskiTKO2 24 Sep 2004 Ice Cenre, Nottingham, England
6Win6–0 Anthony HannaPTS42 Jun 2004 Ice Centre, Nottingham, England
5Win5–0 John Paul RyanTKO1, 2:0512 Mar 2004 Ice Centre, Nottingham, England
4Win4–0 Norman Dhalie2, 2:3730 Jan 2004 Goresbrook Leisure Centre, London, England
3Win3–0 Jason NesbittPTS621 Dec 2003 Reebok Stadium, Bolton, England
2Win2–0 Matthew Burke1 18 Oct 2003 MEN Arena, Manchester, England
1Win1–0 Peter Buckley46 Sep 2003 Leisure Centre, Huddersfield, EnglandProfessional debut