Brit Martin Murray’s challenge for the WBC World Middleweight title
against Argentine champion Sergio Martinez will be televised LIVE and
exclusive on The Channel Of Champions BoxNation (Sky Ch. 437/Virgin Ch.
546).
Unbeaten Murray heads to Buenos Aires on Saturday 27th April to face the
world’s number one middleweight and top four pound-for-pound best at
the 50,000 seat Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield in one of the biggest
challenges faced by a British fighter overseas in recent years.
Martinez v Murray will form one half of a huge world championship
double-header on BoxNation with an exciting showdown between WBC and WBA
Super World Light-Welterweight Champion Danny Garcia against former
six-time world champion Zab Judah, LIVE from the Barclays Centre in
Brooklyn, New York, later that night
Murray, 30, is not afraid to fight in the opponents backyard. In his first shot
at the world
title in December 2011 he took then WBA World Champion Felix Sturm the
distance in Germany with a valiant performance, only for the bout to be
scored a draw.
Promoted by British great Ricky Hatton, the St Helens star has won the
British, Commonwealth and WBA International titles in his 26 fight
career with eleven stopped early. Last November he proved he could mix
it with the big-hitters when he stopped the dynamite-punching and
previously unbeaten Venezuelan Jorge Navarro in the sixth round.
Martinez, from Quilmes in Buenos Aires and based in Oxnard, California,
has become one of the biggest names in the sport. He’s a national hero
in his homeland where he has appeared on the front cover of Rolling
Stone magazine; voted Sports Personality of the Year ahead of the
world’s greatest footballer Lionel Messi and the President of Argentina,
Cristina de Kirchner, officially announced his fight against Murray.
The 37-year-old is coming off his biggest win yet inflicting the first
defeat on Mexican Julio Cesar Chavez Jr’s record last September to
reclaim his WBC World title. Although Martinez out-schooled Chavez for
much of the fight, he had to overcome a scare in the final round when he
was knocked down and almost stopped which will give Murray a big boost
in his challenge.
Jim McMunn, BoxNation’s General Manager, is delighted to have secured
another marquee fight for BoxNation which last year established itself
as the premier fight channel by showcasing some of the sports elite
names including Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto, Vitali Klitschko,
Bernard Hopkins, David Haye, Nonito Donaire, Abner Mares, Brandon Rios
and fast rising star Adrien Broner. He said, “Boxnation is delighted to
announce yet another premium quality fight that british boxing fans want
to see. What we have delivered in our first year has been remarkable
and 2013 is shaping up to be even more exciting.”
Hatton, a former two division world champion, is under no illusions that
his man is the underdog, but says a win would even eclipse his own
sensational win over Kostya Tszyu.
He said, “Martin is heading into the lion’s den knowing full well that
he is the underdog against the best middleweight in the world and one of
the pound-for-pound best. But this is very much like my fight against
Tszyu when nobody gave me a chance of beating him when he was at the
top. Like any good champion, their reign comes to an end and there is
always another fighter coming through. I believe that Martinez, at 37,
has shown some signs that he can be beaten, especially in his last fight
against Chavez Jnr. Martin’s confident, he’s fresh and he’s got the
experience and it’s not beyond the realm of possiblity that Martin could
pull this off. If he does then it would beat my win over Tszyu and rank
alongside some of the
greatest ever British wins on foreign soil like Lloyd Honeyghan defeating Don Curry and Ken Buchanan beating Ishmael Laguna.”
Watch Martinez v Murray live and exclusive on BoxNation (Sky Ch. 437/Virgin Ch. 546) on Saturday 27th April. To join go to
www.boxnation.com
BoxNation is the first dedicated subscription boxing TV channel
in the UK
to bring together the biggest names in amateur, domestic and
international boxing with an unmatched schedule of fights from across
the globe.
For just £10 per month BoxNation offers unbeatable value for money for all fight fans. To subscribe to BoxNation simply go to
www.boxnation.com and hit the “Subscribe Now” button and choose your subscription package.
