Middleweight

Murray denies Golovkin reports

ESPN staff

November 10, 2013

Martin Murray will fight on the Carl Froch-George Groves undercard © AP

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Martin Murray has denied reports he is to fight unbeaten WBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin in Monte Carlo on February 1, but confirmed they will be fighting on the same bill.

Several reports emerged in the British press on Sunday which stated the Brit had been handed a title shot against Golovkin, although Murray later revealed via his Twitter account that was not in fact the case.

A fight between the pair had been mooted to take place in the United States, but Murray could not obtain a visa.

Just to let people know that I'm not fighting Golovkin on Feb 1st but we're fighting on the same bill. Looking forward to it when it happens
— Martin Murray (@MartinMurrayBox) November 10, 2013

However, Golovkin's manager Oleg Hermann believes Murray is running scared of his fighter and indicated that, even as mandatory challenger, is refusing to fight him.

"Murray does not want to box Golovkin and for a long time he's refused to do so." Hermann said. "Gennady primarily wanted to go against Murray, and we were glad that the WBA ordered this fight. Unfortunately, Murray refuses to go against Golovkin. We changed our plan and we're negotiating with another opponent."

Murray has recently been added to the undercard of Carl Froch and George Groves in Manchester on November 23, although his opponent has yet to be named. The 31-year-old lost his last fight against Sergio Martinez by unanimous decision.

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