This week there has been much talk about the upcoming fights for British middleweight fighters Martin Murray and Darren Barker, but most interestingly is the suggestion that a British showdown could be on the cards. This is a fight that Martin Murray and the British public have wanted for a long time. Eddie Hearn has said publicly that they would take they [Matchroom/Darren Barker] would take the Martin Murray fight in a heart beat, with the only suggestion being that money would be an issue and that a World Title would be needed to make it happen. Personally I think this would be a very attractive fight for the British public, regardless of whether a World Title is involved.

Regarding the fight with Darren Barker, Murray has said:

I read the news from Eddie Hearn about the offer to fight Darren barker. This is a fight I’d love to make. This offer came after weeks and weeks of my fantastic team, Hatton Promotions, chasing Eddie Hearn and Matchroom to make this fight. My team have offered them a lot more money for Darren to fight me (more than they offered me to fight him) and a date in April. My matchmaker Richard Poxon got a response more or less saying take it or leave it; I was in the office with Richard Poxon and Ricky Hatton when his reply came, and this isn’t the response of a team that wants the fight to happen. They don’t want this fight and that’s no disrespect to Darren, because I respect him, but I’m extremely confident I’ll beat him. I would love to fight Darren and so would the British public. But like Macklin vs. Barker, it never happened and I’m concerned this won’t happen too. My hopes are still that Felix Sturm will fight me again, but I’m not holding my breath…

This would make a fantastic fight for fight fans and it really is down to Matchroom and Darren to make this happen.

Let’s get it on!

So Martin is ready to go and there is an offer on the table, it’s just up to Eddie, Barker and Matchroom as to what happens next.

Martin said:

“Sturm has proved himself to be a great champion, and a man everybody in boxing respects.”

“After his controversial win over Macklin in the summer he offered a rematch, but was turned down. I like to think that Sturm will do the same to me. Unlike Macklin, I will accept and go to Germany once again.”

“Although I believe the decision was wrong, myself and my team were treated with respect all week by Sturm, his team, German media and fans.”

Many believe that Sturm won’t fight outside of Germany because of the home advantage, but Martin is more than happy to go back out to Germany to fight again. Martin and the team thought they had done enough to win the fight in the last outing, but agreed that they didn’t do enough in Germany to rip the belt from the champion. Ricky Hatton, Murray’s promoter and a big fan of Sturm, is in discussions with the Sturm camp regarding a rematch and is considering asking the WBA to sanction another fight.

Ricky said:

“I have the upmost respect for Felix Sturm and, myself and Martin were grateful to be given a world title shot.”

“But, I feel Felix will lose the respect of the boxing world if he doesn’t give Martin a rematch.”

Fingers crossed, we could have a thrilling rematch in 2012 in Germany!

A lot of British boxing fans were left with mixed feelings after a thrilling battle between Martin Murray and Felix Sturm ended in a draw, with Sturm holding on to his WBA middleweight title. Everyone knew it was a close fight and with boxing scoring being so subjective, this was reflected in the scoring with Jean-Francois Toupin scoring the fight 116-112 Sturm, Ted Gimza scoring 115-113 Murray, and Pascquale Procopio unable to split them scoring it 114-114.

My thoughts on the night when watching it live in Germany were that Murray ended the fight 2 rounds up, and I was astounded by judge Jean-Francois giving it 116-112 to Sturm. On reflection and then having seen the fight on video I still think Murray won the fight by at least 1 round. Sturm is a great fighter but he fights in short bursts trying to steal rounds in the last 30 seconds, and he always has a good round 12. However I felt that the volume of punches, and the consistency was with Murray all the way. A lot of the punches thrown by Sturm were met with rapturous applause from the German fans, but appeared to be largely blocked by a tight Murray defence. After just 3 rounds, Sturm started to look very uncomfortable as if realising the enormity of the task he had taken on and looked shaky on his legs in rounds 7 and 8, although admittedly he battled through to the end.

So the negatives are that Martin didn’t win the WBA title, and him and the team are left with the feeling that they deserved to win the fight. However there are lots of positives to take from this as well. This was a huge step up in class for Martin Murray, and he himself admitted in an ideal world he would have liked a few more fights leading up to this WBA showdown in Germany, but points out that you have to take your chances when you get them. He has always claimed that he is world class, and taking such a well established and experienced world champion like Sturm over 12 rounds in the manner that he did, proves this beyond a shadow of a doubt. In the press conference the following day, Sturm initially seemed open to a possible rematch, and although unlikely to leave Germany, Murray has said he would be happy to fight there again (the main issue with this is that Sturm is also looking to unify the division).

After the Macklin fight, I think that Sturm was looking to make a statement. He looked in really great shape and started quite quickly, whereas normally he moves up slowly through the gears. The fact that Martin still performed as well as he did against a much better prepared Felix Sturm speaks volumes.

The final positive point is that Martin is still undefeated, and this fight should increase his awareness and popularity, and could open doors to bigger fights in the future.

Now to those that still question the outcome of the fight, I found these statistics quite interesting from Boxing Scene’s compubox punch stats:

Murray landed 24% of his 88 punches thrown per round, 31 more than the middleweight avg. Murray threw and landed more punches in nine of twelve rounds. The more efficient Sturm landed 47% of his power shots.

Overall, Sturm threw 631 punches and landed 182 (29% connect ratio). Murray threw 1061 punches and landed 258 (24% connect ratio). Murray also landed 184 out of 559 power punches compared to Sturm’s 90 out of 190.

After the fight Martin said:

“I’m gutted — but I expected that result in Germany. I took a great world champion the full 12 rounds but just didn’t do enough in Germany to rip the belt from him.”

“This was a real step up in class and it took me a couple of rounds to get into it.”

“Then I warmed to it and I know if I’d had a couple more rounds I’d have had him.”

If a rematch doesn’t happen, there are lots of options still open to Martin and his promotion/managerial team including the defence of his British Middleweight title. I’m sure Martin would also like to do a big shout out to the Barmy Army, 300+ people travelled to Mannheim in Germany to support Martin and they were in prime form on the night.

Martin Murray vs Felix Sturm part 1

Martin Murray vs Felix Sturm part 2

Martin Murray vs Felix Sturm part 3

Martin Murray vs Felix Sturm part 4

Note:  We will shortly be updating the gallery section of this website.  Changes will include:

- Separating images into categories such as promotional, fighting, event etc

- Making the images accessible to Apple/Mobile devices

We’re also thinking about adding a fan section as we have done on the Facebook group a few times.  If you have any photos of you and Martin that you would like to submit, then send them to us at info@martinmurrayboxing.co.uk and we’ll add them in!

I’m going to send you to hell. You’re gonna burn…

The fighters then enter a ring of fire (the name of the event) where they stand off. Felix also replies to Martin’s earlier comment, but as it’s in German, I’ll need one of you kind readers to make the translation!

This is a great feature of Martin Murray, and an inside look into his training camp for the upcoming Felix Sturm WBA middleweight title fight. The feature is presented by Adam Smith and Jonny Nelson, but also has a discussion with promoter Ricky Hatton, boxer Alex Arthur and former Bantam weight fighter Spencer Oliver.

The video shows Martin training with Oliver Harrison, as well as a look at some of his strength training and plyometric routines with strength trainer Martin Cullen. Additionally the video documents Martin’s support of the ABF (Army Benevolent Fund), and you get to meet fiancé Gemma, son Archie and daughter Amelia. What many people don’t know is that the title fight was actually scheduled on the same day as Martin’s wedding day, which had to be moved to later in the week, so Martin will be flying out later in the week after the fight straight from Germany to meet up with them. Fingers crossed he will be taking the WBA belt with him, and he won’t have a black eye for his wedding photos!

Please thank “Woodddddddya” for uploading the video and “RingsideIsBack5” for hosting it on their YouTube channel.

In anticipation of the WBA world title fight between Martin Murray and Felix Sturm, a promotional video has been put together and posted on YouTube by Hatton TV. To watch the video simply press play on the video above, or click the link to go straight to the YouTube page. You can also view other videos from Hatton TV on their YouTube channel.

Martin Murray is fighting Sturm on the 2nd December in Mannheim, Germany at the SAP arena. Although Martin is the underdog in this fight, many people including his loyal UK fanbase believe that there is going to be a big upset on the night, and that Murray is going to return home victorious and with the title in hand.

Below is another video with Martin Murray and Ricky Hatton being interviewed by Adam Smith on SKY Sports Fight Night:

Here is another video of Martin being interviewed by Ed Robinson at Mannheim for the presser as part of the Ringside TV show on SKY Sports:

Both of the above videos were uploaded courtest of RingsideIsBack4, and you can visit their YouTube channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/RingsideIsBack4

Martin and Duke of Lancaster regiment of Drummers

New photos have been added to the gallery section of this site today, and they include photos taken from recent charity events and a visit to Preston Army Barracks. Martin Murray has always been a big supporter of the British Army, and has been to visit British troops on many occassions. He is going to be supported on his big night in Mannheim by St Helens hero and friend Andy Reid, who lost both his legs during a tour of Afghanistan. Although unable to make it to Germany on the night as he is meeting the Queen, they arranged for the Duke of Lancasters regiment of drummers to give him a full backing during his ring walk.

This is not to be interpreted as an “England vs Germany” army showing or a reference to previous wars, but because the charity run by Andy Reid (the Army Benevolent Fund) doesn’t get the same exposure as charities such as Help For Heroes, and Martin hopes that this may help with getting them further exposure.

Yesterday Martin Murray came face to face for the first time yesterday with his opponent the WBA Middleweight Champion Felix Sturm. Martin is scheduled to face Sturm in the ring on the 2nd of December in a bout for the WBA title.

This fight is a chance for Martin Murray to show the world how good a fighter he is and hopefully bring home the belt, it is also a dream come true for Sturm who has always wanted to fight at the SAP Arena in Germany.

“Ever since I saw Wladimir Klitschko fighting at the SAP-Arena, it was a personal dream for me to step inside the ring here as well. That dream will come true on December 2nd,” Sturm told the assembled press. “I had a bad night in my last fight against Matthew Macklin and I was rightfully criticized but that won’t happen again. I will keep my championship and deliver a spectacular finish.”

Felix Sturm is training to defend his title in his hometown of Cologne, Germany, for his eleventh time.

“My camp is going well as always. I have to lose five more kilograms but that won’t be that big of a problem. I will be ready come fight night.”

His trainer Fritz Sdunek added:

“Felix certainly wasn’t at his best against Macklin but that will change this time around. There is no doubt in my mind that he will still be champion after the bout.”

Sturm isn’t underestimating Murray as a fighter and was full of praise for the undefeated contender yesterday;

“Murray is tall and a determined fighter. I’m pretty good at dealing with bigger fighters; it makes it easier for me to attack. This could turn into a great, great fight.”

Martin wasn’t put off by Felix Sturms confidence and showed he was calm and commanding in his composure and with an unbeaten record Murray has a right to be confident.

“This is an amazing opportunity for me. Felix has been a great champion for a long time but on December 2nd, his reign will end. Everything will change.”

Murrays training camp are working hard to help Martin have all the skills to take on this formidable challenger and the British boxing fans are positive that Murray will win convincingly.

During the presser Sturm also hinted about potential unification bouts.

“There is nothing bigger than to unify the belts”, he said. “It might happen in the future. But the other champions have to agree, too. It seems like some of them think I could throw money around any way I like. That’s absurd. We will see what happens after I take care of business against Murray. I’m completely focused on him right now anyway.”

Although he would do better to concentrate on this fight against Murray than to look at future fights right now, as Murray has proven to be a tough and disiplined fighter with the skills to be a world champion. Murray is already rated 3rd by the WBA as a contender and has shown significant improvement with every fight. This looks like it is going to be an exciting fight and we can’t wait!