ROSS Murray was looking to make it third time lucky in title fights when he faced Tanzania’s John Chuwa on the Kynoch Boxing event at the Crowne Plaza. Murray had lost for Commonwealth and European straps in the past and at 37 this could be his last shot at title glory.
Chuwa came flying out looking to land heavy right hands and while he had plenty of volume he was nowhere near accurate enough. After a couple of rounds it was clear Chuwa knew how to fight only one way – coming forward. However, Murray was blocking and dodging Chuwa’s right hand with the local countering perfectly.
Halfway through the fight Liverpool referee Mark Lyson deducted a point from Chuwa for his gumshield repeatedly falling out.
Into the later rounds and Chuwa would rally for the first minute of a session then fade as Murray kept calm and composed. Ross was racking up the rounds.
In the end it was a deserved win for Glasgow’s Murray with all three judges scoring it in his favour as he claimed the vacant WBC International Silver light-flyweight belt. Judges’ scorecards read Victor Loughlin (Barrhead) 97-92, Christophe Fernandez (France) 96-92 and Bela Florian (Hungary) 96-93.
Scottish middleweight champion Marc Kerr from Glasgow faced Atherton’s William Warburton over four rounds. Kerr had lost out for the Celtic super-welterweight title in his last fight but recorded a comprehensive win, referee Kevin McIntyre (Paisley) scoring 40-37 to Kerr.
Glasgow’s Scottish cruiserweight champion Jay Carrigan-McFarlane, 21, moved to heavyweight as he demolished Birmingham’s Shaun Duffy in one minute 24 seconds of the first round.
Duffy was knocked down, but got back up only for Carrigan-McFarlane to force referee Kevin McIntyre to stop the fight as he landed some more blows.
The Verdict Murray proves that in boxing persistence pays off.
