John Murray " I feel like i am coming out of retirement"

http://www.***********.com/?m=show&id=27253

John Murray fights for the European lightweight title at the Kingsway Leisure Centre, Widnes on May the 7th against Cardiff’s Gary Buckland. Murray had hoped to fight in front of his hometown fans but the proposed venue, Altrincham Leisure Centre, is unavailable leaving Murray with the short trip to Widnes, where fellow Mancunian Ricky Hatton launched his professional career. Murray is 28-0 (16 early); the fighter hopes the scrap with Buckland will relaunch a career that has too often seen the Murray ‘Machine’ languishing on the sidelines.
“I’m really looking forward to it. It has been nearly seven months since I was last in the ring and I’m dying to get things going again. Inactivity leaves you sat on your hands and doing nothing, you see other guys fighting and it does **** you off – it’s like I’m coming out of retirement for this one!” declared Murray.
“You’ve listened to me complain about inactivity in my career but I really hope this is the last period of inactivity and I can win this title and bounce into another fight. These long breaks hamper me more than anything. I’m not having tough fights and then having to have time off – I’ve finished the last four inside the distance and picked up minimal damage in them. All being well, I’ll come out of this one undamaged and then get straight back in there.”
Carl Johanneson has been drafted in as Murray’s chief sparring partner, the former British super-feather champion locked horns with Kevin Mitchell in 2008 and his heavy handed approach has been the perfect tonic for Murray’s lack of ring time.
“Obviously you pick up a bit of ring rust and it takes hold of you, I struggled to get going early on but bringing in a tough sparring partner like Carl sheds the rust quicker. I’m really pleased with the sparring and am looking forward to more sessions with him,” revealed the 25-year-old.
“He’s a noted puncher, he has proved that over his career and you need someone who can bang back at you. If someone can’t punch then I get lackadaisical and drop my hands because I think they can’t hurt me. With someone like Carl, I have to defend myself and keep my defence sharp.”
Buckland, 18-1 (6 KOs) sits at number ten in the latest EBU rankings and has been slowly but surely rebuilding after a 2008 points setback against Hove’s Ben Murphy. However, the 23-year-old is perceived as a soft touch, with many people questioning Gary’s right to contest the EBU title. Murray is nonplussed over the rights and wrongs of the contest.
“No, not at all”, he said when asked if Buckland’s inexperience is a major factor in this fight, “I’m really up for this fight and really think that having all these recent problems has switched me on and left me ticking over in the gym. I was meant to fight in February, then March and it is now May – I don’t take anybody lightly and am up for Buckland. I’ve been studying him and we won’t leave no stone unturned, I’ll be bang on.
“Gary is in form at the minute and is an active fighter, and an active fighter is a good fighter - I won’t be taking anything for granted because this is a great opportunity for him to become British and European champion [Murray’s British title will also be on the line]. I’m not giving anything up to him. Buckland will be full of enthusiasm and I’ll be going in there to knock that enthusiasm out of him.”
“When I’m in with fighters that I’m favoured over I become a little bit more nervous and try to be sharper because when you are in with a guy you are favoured to beat people expect a good performance so you work hard to make sure that you’re not complacent,” he continued.
“I’ve got a bit on my plate against a guy who is full of ambition, I have to let him know who is boss and take him out of there, the sooner the better. I don’t take anything for granted; we’ve all seen fighters who are supposed to win end up on their back, one punch can change anything. Buckland is young and ambitious and I’ll need to be on top of my game to do a number on him or it could be my career that is over. Providing I come through Buckland, I want to be straight back out in July with a nice defence against [the Ukraine’s] Andrei Kudriavtsev. I’ll have the European title under my belt and can look at getting something bigger by the end of the year”
Promoter Mick Hennessy offered Murray a lifeline last month when handing his charge an opportunity to box on Shobox; Murray, however, felt that the notice, just over two weeks, was not adequate, especially when travelling to the boxing backwaters of Fayetteville to take on an up-and-coming American star such as Henry Lundy or Jason Litzau.
“Looking back some of the opponents offered, like Jason Litzau, who has just beaten Rocky Juarez, and Henry Lundy, you see they are good kids and not the type you want to take on with only two weeks notice and after a lot of messing about. I didn’t have a proper training camp to prefer for that type of risk so I don’t think it was worth it. We bided our time, now we have the European and can do a number on Buckland to pick up the belt, and then we can decide where I go from there,” mused Murray, who is also keen to hang onto his Lonsdale belt, which he will win outright should he defeat Buckland.
“I’ll keep my options open, I don’t see any reason why I’ll have to give the British up, we’ll look at the options that are open to us and plan the best route and if that means giving the British belt up then I’ll do that, but I wanted to win it outright first and can do that against Buckland.”
Murray eventually hopes to lock horns with Kevin Mitchell; he believes that Mitchell has a great chance of beating Michael Katsidis at Upton Park on May the 15th. “Yeah, we will hopefully fight at some point providing Kevin comes through the tough WBO [interim] fight against Katsidis,” said Murray when asked about his London-based rival. “Michael has a very exciting come-forward style and so does Kevin, it will be very exciting at Upton Park and I’ll try to get the winner of that fight.”
Mitchell fought a nine round war with Johanneson back in March of 2008; Murray, though, believes that there is no point asking Carl for his opinion on a Murray-Mitchell showdown. “I’m not interested to be honest,” he said when asked if Carl could give him the inside track on Mitchell.
“I concentrate on my own career and will use this good sparring to prepare for Buckland. I don’t mind people comparing me to Mitchell because they are thinking about a fight between us down the line but I’ve got my own idea in my own mind about how a fight would go and don’t need to ask any of Kevin’s former opponents what they think. I’m sure Kevin has his own ideas as well so if it comes off it would be a great fight for both of us, and for Britain. We could have a massive British fight down the line.”
Edwin Valero’s recent meltdown and subsequent suicide left a vacant position in the lightweight rankings, The Ring moved swiftly, removing Valero from their top ten and bumping everyone else up a notch, Murray included; John is sitting at #10 in the Ring’s online rankings and will be grabbing a copy of the magazine as soon as it hits the stands.
“I’m really chuffed with the top ten place, it is a milestone achievement in my career. Seeing myself up with the best in the world is something else. I’ll pick up the magazine, frame it, and keep it forever,” stated a proud Murray