Impressive Murray must win Arena bout for British title shot
JOE Murray hopes to move one step closer to a shot at the British title when he faces Matty Fagan next month.
The two men meet on the undercard of Hughie Fury’s WBO heavyweight title challenge against Joseph Parker at the Manchester Arena on September 23.
It is an eliminator for the British belt, which is currently held by Robbie Barrett, who defends that title against Lewis Ritson in October.
Murray has looked impressive as of late, putting together a run of six straight wins, including a stoppage victory against previously unbeaten Rashid Kassem in Denmark last year.
His most recent triumph came in June when he defeated Henry Janes in a one-sided points win at Victoria Warehouse.
It will be a tough fight against Fagan, who has lost just two of the 13 fights he has had in his career so far.
Murray and Fagan will be well aware of each other, as the two men used to train together at Anthony Farnell’s gym.
It isn’t the only 50-50 fight to take place on the Fury versus Parker undercard, as there is also a British bantamweight bout between Josh Wale and Don Broadhust.
Wale makes the first defence of the belt that he won against Jamie Wilson in July, but faces a hard test against Broadhurst, who is a former British and Commonwealth superflyweight champion and now steps up in weight for the challenge.
Another fight on the card sees Peter McDonagh and Shayne Singleton square-off in a ten-round lightmiddleweight clash.
McDonagh has had a career resurgence and is currently riding a 10-fight unbeaten run, ahead of the fight against Singleton, who aims to get back into title contention after coming up short in his British title challenge against Bradley Skeete in June.
A number of local boxers are on the bill, including Wythenshawe’s Jimmy Kelly, who is on a six-fight win streak following his first world title attempt against Liam Smith in December 2015.
Bolton’s Haroon Khan aims to extend his unbeaten record to 7-0 when he fights in a six-round bantamweight contest.
Haroon is younger brother of former world champion Amir Khan, and is coming off a blistering first round stoppage of Patrik Bartos in May.
Heavyweight prospect Con Sheehan has his seventh professional bout on the card, as he competes alongside stablemate Hughie Fury.
The Peter Fury trained fighter is looking to break into title contention soon and wants to produce another big-hitting performance.
Completing the card will be Droylsden lightheavyweight Craig Bunn, Middleton welterweight Liam Taylor; Manchester heavyweight Lee Carter, Bolton super-middleweight Jake Kilganoon and lightheavyweight Mickey Ellison.
Tickets for event are now available from www.eventim. co.uk and are priced at £40, £60, £100, £150, £200, £300 and VIP £600.