MURRAY TARGETS ALL-ENGLISH WORLD TITLE CLASH WITH MITCHELL

Posted on | May 8, 2010 | No Comments

By Michael Emons

JOHN Murray claimed the European lightweight belt and immediately set his sights on an all-English world championship clash with Kevin Mitchell.

Manchester-based Murray, 25, won the vacant European title on Friday with an 11th round stoppage of Cardiff’s Gary Buckland in Matchroom Sport’s latest boxing show.

Murray also held on to his British belt with a dominant performance at the Kingsway Leisure Centre in Widnes.

However, Murray now wants to fight the winner of next Saturday’s WBO world title clash between Londoner Kevin Mitchell and Australia’s Michael Katsidis.

“Mitchell fights Katsidis and there’s no reason why I can’t fight the winner – I’d love to,” said Murray in an exclusive interview with MatchroomSport.com.

“I shouted out Katsidis after the (Jon) Thaxton fight and Mitchell has come up a weight but now I’m back on the map and it’s time for me to kick on.

“I’ve won the European title and want to start mixing with these guys. Both are strong warriors but I would love to fight them.

“I think Mitchell can out box Katsidis but I’m not bothered who wins, I just want to fight the winner.

“Mitchell is doing it the right way by taking chances and not avoiding anyone.

“Full credit to him as he wants to fight the best to be the best so he is a man cut from the same cloth as me.

“I wouldn’t duck anyone and neither would he so it would be a massive fight for us, the fans and a massive fight for Britain.”

Friday night’s contest, which was broadcast live on Sky Sports, was the first time Murray had been in action since October but he did enough to extend his undefeated record to 29 fights.

“It was a good performance considering the amount of time I’ve had out of the ring and I was pleased to get the rounds under my belt against a strong, ambitious kid,” added Murray.

“It wasn’t a vintage performance but still good enough to grind out a win and that’s what you need to do.

“Sometimes I thought I had him going and I could’ve picked up the pace and started putting the shots together cleaner. But I was pleased and didn’t lose a round.

“Buckland had only lost one out of 19 and this was his big opportunity. Against a strong kid I had to show my quality and that’s what I did – I showed my class.

“It was a tough night at the office but I did what I had to and got a stoppage.

“I’m very proud to become European champion and I’ve done everything the right way. I’ve been WBC youth world title holder, Young Boxer of the Year, English champion and now European champion so the next step is world titles.

“I’ve just broken into Ring Magazine’s top ten so I’m nearly there.”

Matchroom Sport’s next boxing show is Prizefighter Super-Bantamweights on Saturday, May 29 at the York Hall in London’s east end.

Former WBC bantamweight world champion Wayne McCullough is among the entrants and tickets are on sale from 01277 359900.