John Murray: 'Katsidis Didn't Beat The Best in Britain!'

By Terence Dooley
John Murray took a few moments out of his holiday to speak to us about the weekend's action. Murray, the current British and European lightweight boss, kept a close eye on the Michael Katsidis versus Kevin Mitchell WBO interim title fight and although unhappy to see his fellow Brit stopped in three rounds the Mancunian fighter maintains that Michael ‘The Great’ did not meet the best 135lb fighter in the UK.
“First off, I'd like to commiserate with Kevin”, stressed Murray, “because he stepped up to the plate against a quality fighter and has had a really good twelve months. There is no shame to losing to someone like Katsidis but I feel that the people who say Michael beat the best lightweight in Britain are wide of the mark.
“Not many fighters go the traditional route these days but I've gone through the British and European ranks and feel that I am the best lightweight in the UK based on my achievements at the weight. I’ve won the WBC Youth title, the English title, the British belt, I’m European champion, a Boxing Writer’s Young Fighter of the Year winner and have broken into The Ring and the WBO lightweight top ten. As soon as the ref waved the fight off on Saturday, I took over from Kevin as the boxer with the longest unbeaten streak in the British game.”
He continued: “Kevin is a quality fighter, don't get me wrong, but he looked small against Katsidis. To beat Michael, you need to be able to take the fight to him and match him for strength - I can do that. It is annoying because I've seen my countryman lose but it is even more annoying to see Michael come over here and go 2-0 over British boys in his own boxing version of the Ashes! Katsidis is a warrior and the true test of that is putting yourself on the line by going overseas to the other guy's backyard, Michael has done that in recent years and came to the UK and stopped [Graham] Earl and now Mitchell - I want to end that run of success against British fighters.”
Indeed, Murray, who won the EBU title with an eleventh-round TKO of Gary Buckland earlier this month, is keen to take Michael on due to the fact that Katsidis is currently on a winning streak and performing at his very best. Furthermore, John, 25, feels that people have prematurely written him off as a European level boxer; he feels that he will prove himself more than a match for Katsidis if given the chance.
“This is the perfect time to fight Katsidis”, claimed the 29-0 (17 early) fighter, “as he is on a roll and in the form of his life. I'd love to hand him a defeat when he's on a run like this because no one could pour cold water over a win like that. Listen, people say that I'm a European level fighter but I just need a chance to prove that claim wrong and what better way to do it than by fighting, and beating, Michael.
“Katsidis is a brilliant fighter but he lost his only real world title attempt against [Juan] Diaz [for the IBO title] and also lost when he stepped up against [Joel] Casamayor. Holding the interim title is a great thing but everyone wants to be a proper champion and Michael hasn't had that feeling yet, he has lost convincingly at the top level, so why shouldn't I fancy myself in a fight with him?”
Still, Mitchell strongly believed that he was in with a shot against Katsidis, now 27-2 (22 KOs). Murray, though, believes that his natural fighting ability, coupled with a lack of fear, would present Katsidis with more than he could handle. The Murray ‘Machine’ is also adamant that he would travel to Australia if required.
“I'm under no illusions”, continued Murray, “and I know that Michael will be looking for the winner of Marquez-Diaz but he's been messed about by Marquez before so could find himself waiting for months for his next fight. We both like to have a scrap and keep ourselves busy so why doesn't Katsidis try to scalp another British fighter? I'd travel to his backyard for the fight and wouldn't care if Crocodile Dundee was the ref and the judges were Russell Crowe, Harold Bishop and Skippy the Bush Kangaroo - I just want the chance to prove myself and feel that Mike did not fight the best lightweight in Europe.”
Mitchell is another option should the Katsidis fight not prove obtainable; however, Murray feels that Kevin has to consolidate and rebuild after Saturday's defeat. “I like and respect Kevin but there must be something wrong if he couldn't prepare properly for this type of chance,” admitted Murray.
“I'd love this type of chance and learned in my fight with [Youssef] Al Hamidi that you can't play at this sport and have any distractions going into a fight. I was messed about for that fight and it affected my performance so I told myself it would never happen again. Kevin had a home title fight in a massive stadium in front of his passionate fans but did not prepare properly, there is no excuse for that and it wouldn't happen to me,” swore the Mancunian.
“I am desperate for a chance like the one Kevin had so there would be no half-measures. Katsidis loves to fight, I love to fight. I'm not hard to find, Michael knows his way around the UK by now and spoke about fighting me earlier this year. He may not know much about me at the moment but he has already spoken my name and come the final bell, he'll know what the Murray machine is all about - let's just meet in phone booth and see who is the last man standing!"
Murray has 90 days to accommodate Ukraine's Andriy Kudriavtsev; he is sure that he can defend his EBU title and then be ready for a fight with Katsidis should Michael fail in his quest to meet Marquez or Diaz.
“I won't overlook my responsibilities as European champion”, promised Murray, “Kudriavtsev withdrew from negotiations for our last fight because he was feeling poorly; he'll feel even worse after I've got my hands on him! As for Michael, I respect him so much and am desperate to show my critics that I can step up if given the chance.
“Katsidis keeps duffing our lads up. The Australians love nothing more than beating the Brits, well we've got an Aussie scalp of our own with Ricky Hatton's rough win over Kostya Tszyu and I'm confident that I can give Katsidis the type of fight Ricky gave Kostya, and there would be only one winner - the interim title would be coming home to the UK and Michael 'The Great' would have to find another country to terrorise!”