BATTLING BRIT MURRAY READY FOR WAR AGAINST ARGENTINA’​S BEST MARTINEZ LIVE ON BOXNATION

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. (Photo: BOX REC)

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

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