Martin Murray: “I won’t be leaving Germany without the title””

I jumped straight from domestic to world level, so even though there was an argument to say I won that fight, I think it came to soon for me.

Murray fell short in his three previous world title tilts at middleweight – drawing against Felix Sturm and losing to Sergio Gabriel Martinez and Gennady Golovkin.

“This is a real 50-50 fight, ” said promoter Kalle Sauerland.

WBO super-middleweight champion Arthur Abraham is confident he will be too strong for Martin Murray when they meet on Saturday.

Another man under no illusion of the danger Murray poses is Abraham’s long-time coach and mentor Ulli Wegner, who will be celebrating his 100th World title fight on Saturday night.

“We’ve been studying Arthur carefully and I believe I’ve got him beat”.

Murray, who has recorded three wins inside the distance since moving up to super middleweight, says he is expecting the “best Arthur Abraham” having been impressed with the Champion’s recent performances.

“Against Martinez, I knew I could win but going into the fight there were still a few doubts”. He is a great fighter, but he’s not changed his style in years, and in my opinion, he’s not evolved. “I won’t be leaving Germany without the title”.

Watch this video of a pre-fight Murray surrounded by his family, before he analyses the “ageing” Abraham. “My coach Ulli Wegner and his assistant Georg Bramowski have pushed me to my limits”.

Abraham v Murray is part of another packed Saturday night of Sky Sports boxing – headlined by Anthony Crolla’s second attempt at dethroning WBA world lightweight champion Darleys Perez. “For Arthur and I, a unification bout is the common goal, ” said the 73 year-old. “Since my last fight, I’ve been keeping busy in the gym and doing a lot of work with Adam to become a more calculated boxer-puncher, and now, I’m looking forward to putting that into practice”.

Abraham has only been stopped once, although Murray feels he can finally get a decision in his favour.