Andy Murray on Boxing - He seems to be a massive fan

Discussion in 'British Boxing Forum' started by robpalmer135, Sep 8, 2008.


  1. robpalmer135

    robpalmer135 Obsessed with Boxing banned

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    ACCORDING to Britain’s top tennis star Andy Murray, Muhammad Ali is probably the greatest sportsman ever.
    Tennis great Jimmy Connors was a huge Ali supporter and would “drive all over” to watch The Greatest’s closed-circuit TV title fights in the 1960s and 1970s.
    Boris Becker and Roger Federer are
    personal friends of Wladimir Klitschko, as was Guillermo Vilas of his countryman, the late Carlos Monzon of Argentina. Andre Agassi’s dad was an Olympic boxer for Iran. So what is Murray’s connection to boxing?
    “It’s my favourite sport outside of tennis,” says the 20-year-old from Dunblane, Scotland, who counts Alex Arthur and Amir Khan as friends.
    “I don’t really know why I became a fan. I started watching when I was 14 and since then I watched all boxing that’s on TV.
    “It’s all I really look at on the internet, and all the fights that are coming up.”
    Murray has attended five boxing events in Scotland and also entered the ring with Khan at his third pro fight. Last October, during the Bangkok tournament in Thailand, Andy even spent the day training in Muay Thai.
    The two-time ATP tournament winner who has career wins over Federer, Andy Roddick, Nikolay Davydenko and Tommy Haas, explains the appeal of boxing.
    “I quite like the big fights in Vegas. They get, obviously, great crowds. Coming to the ring to the music, there’s a lot of psychology involved. I guess it’s kind of similar to tennis, for each opponent that you face, you can decide whether to defend or attack. If they are more open to right hands, you can throw left hooks. Similar to tennis, where if the guy has a weaker forehand, you’re going to play to that more. There’s a lot of comparisons between the two sports, so I think that’s why I like it.”
    Andy’s older brother Jamie, who won the Wimbledon mixed doubles championship this year with Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, added, “It [Andy’s boxing interest] was kind of random. Anything that’s on TV, he [Andy] will sit down and watch it.
    “I don’t really understand any of it other than you try to knock the guy down but he’s telling me all the guys’ best punches or what he’s looking to do and all the strategy.”
    Before important matches, Murray will draw additional motivation by watching boxing videos, though not necessarily actual fights. “I prefer listening to guys like Ali. That’s inspiring. It’s more the things that they went through, the way that they were. That’s what I really enjoy watching before I play or nights before my matches.
    “I loved watching Roy?Jones. I watched his last fight against Anthony Hanshaw – he was fighting pretty defensively, much slower than he used to. But when he was at his best he was unbelievable. Now I love watching Floyd Mayweather, even though a lot of people don’t like him. They think he’s boring, and fights too defensively. But the object of boxing is to hit your opponent and not get hit. And he hits opponents five, six times more than they hit him.
    “Mayweather’s not a knockout artist, but he’s the best boxer to watch. He doesn’t really care what people think, he just wants to win regardless of how it looks.
    “Very few boxers are able to do that because it can become sort of a macho thing and they want to throw loads of punches. But Mayweather always stays cool under pressure. I also like Ricky Hatton.”
    Interestingly, the 6ft 1in Murray’s varied playing style sort of parallels Mayweather’s versatile skills as a welterweight.
    “Almost everyone plays the same these days, but Andy can do different things, like slice and then hit for power.” says one of his boyhood coaches Emilio Sanchez. “He can come to net, or retrieve or hit on the run. Other guys don’t know what to do with all that.
    “When you’re playing against guys who are really consistent, you have to find three or four ways to win points, and not just with your serve,” says Murray of his multi-dimensional arsenal. As a devout boxing fan, what would Murray do of there was a major fight in the US with one of his favourite fighters taking place during Wimbledon?
    “The Mayweather-[Arturo] Gatti fight was on live around Wimbledon time two years ago. I remember I got up like at three in the morning to watch it. I couldn’t miss that one. The re-broadcast was on again recently on ESPN and I watched it again.” Andy’s favourite boxing film and book? “Will Smith in Ali. I don’t really read too much, but my favourite boxing web site is Secondsout.com, if that helps [smiles].”
    And, just out of curiosity, who would be the ATP Tour heavyweight champion? “Someone like Ivan Ljubicic [6ft 4in, 195lbs] looks like he’s quite dangerous. You know,, bald head, he’s quite strong, a muscular guy. I’d probably say him.”
    Incidentally, light-heavyweight Murray (he weighs around 12st 7lbs) is expected to battle the 28-year-old Ljubicic at Wimbledon this weekend, when Great Britain host Croatia for the right to return to Davis Cup World Group in 2008 (Ljubicic leads their head-to-head meetings, 2-1). Perhaps there will be a bit of boxing involved too, as the immortal words of Ali could have an inspiring influence on the outcome.
     
  2. Beatboxer

    Beatboxer Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Another reason to like Murray, unlike most celebrity fans he actually does seem to know his stuff.
     
  3. robpalmer135

    robpalmer135 Obsessed with Boxing banned

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    he might even come on here!
     
  4. GazOC

    GazOC Guest Star for Team Taff Full Member

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    Havn't we got enough dour Scots?;)

    Only kidding lads.:good
     
  5. JonOli

    JonOli Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    This content is protected
     
  6. Betty Swollocks

    Betty Swollocks James 'Lights Out' Toney Full Member

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    :lol:

    yeah Murray announced himself as a big boxing fan when he first arrived on the scene in summer 2005
     
  7. Sundance

    Sundance Active Member Full Member

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    Mar 5, 2006
    He also supports Hibernian FC, like Arthur in the pic. Good taste!
     
  8. achillesthegreat

    achillesthegreat FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BRAVE Full Member

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    Murray appears to be a good bloke. I'm supporting him against Federer. I'm hoping he can win.
     
  9. SleazeNation

    SleazeNation Coal Black Horse Full Member

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    Nov 10, 2007
    Two of his friends lost on saturday night then, he's a c***.