Manchester’s John Murray has hit back at Amir Khan, stating his domestic rival is ‘either seriously confused or lying’ and believes he is a ‘hypocrite’.
Khan, 20, claimed after his 12th professional win on Saturday that he had “played with” Murray during a sparring session and that his domestic rivals are just looking to earn a pay-day by calling him out.
But Murray, 22, insists he has NEVER sparred with Bolton’s Olympic silver medallist and that all he was doing by offering him the chance to fight him in Las Vegas on the May 5th Oscar de la Hoya-Floyd Mayweather undercard was answering KHAN’s challenge to his British rivals to step up and face him.
“I think Khan’s mouth is as reckless as his driving. It’s going to get him in trouble,” said Murray. “He’s either seriously confused or he is lying. I couldn’t believe it when I heard what he said. I have NEVER shared a ring with him.
“He’d remember if we’d sparred because I would have taken him apart, but we have never sparred as amateurs or at any other time.
“He needs to get his stories straight. He says there are lots of people calling him out, but HE called out his British rivals and said they had better hurry up and fight him.
“He was full of bravado and disrespect last week, insulting far more established fighters, but where’s his bottle now?
“I took up the challenge by saying I would be willing to fight him in Las Vegas on May 5th when I have my next fight. It’s on the undercard of possibly the biggest fight in boxing history but now he’s looking for the exit signs.
“And he says I’m scared! How can I be – I have stepped up to HIS challenge. Is his head right? I believe he’s a hypocrite for saying he wants his British rivals but then backing out. Now I have put it on him, he has started coming up with fairy tales.
“Him saying I’m looking for a payday is another absolute insult. I have carved out a name for myself. I have won the Boxing Writers Young Boxer of the Year award, just like he has, and I am the WBC World Youth champion – the first ever in Britain.
“I’m at the start of my career. I am not someone looking for a pay-day before he hangs up his gloves.
“And if either of us is about money, it certainly isn’t me. I reckon he is the most overpaid fighter in Britain. He is the one getting massive money for easy jobs.
“He is hallucinating after 12 fights. What’s the lad going to be like once I get to him? He says I’m not on his level, well he’s right in a way – I’m on a higher level and I am ranked higher than him.
“He needs to compare our records. I have been matched well since day one. His opposition is way off mine. I’ve taken decent late notice jobs and won and I have boxed outside of the comfort zone, outside of England. I fought in America in my 13th fight and I’ve offered Amir the chance to do the same, on neutral ground.”
Murray was left unimpressed by Khan’s latest win, after the Bolton boxer stopped Doncaster’s Steffy Bull in three rounds on the Calzaghe-Manfredo undercard.
“I’ve had enough of the hype and I’m sick of watching him firing away four or five unanswered shots against opponents who don’t want to be in there,” said Murray.
“He only fights opponents who are smaller or just there to survive, or who have just come out of retirement like Bull. Surely they are running out of easy targets for him to fight now?
“He’s tripped himself up again by saying I am not on his level. Are the people he has been fighting? If he really thinks that, why not continue the process and bash me up?
“I’ve had a lot of support from people here in Manchester this last week and people have been coming up to me and saying: ‘give him a good crack from me!’ But this wouldn’t just be a high-profile north-west Derby; it would also generate a lot of national interest, as well as in America.
“I want to ask the press and the public if they are prepared to keep putting up with this. If they are prepared to keep watching a so called star of the future feast on easy pickings and talk big, but then run for cover when someone looks him in the eye.”
