Alex Murphy: ‘I want to win a Central Area title before the end of the year’
The British super lightweight prospect speaks on reaching 10-0, goals for 2024, sparring at Gleason's gym in New York, sparring Campbell Hatton and his next fight
Despite only being 22 years old, Alex Murphy has a professional record of 10-0 and it’s fair to say 2023 was a phenomenal year for the super lightweight prospect. Murphy fought five times in total and appeared on two Wasserman boxing shows, featuring on the undercard of Lyndon Arthur vs Boris Crighton and Arthur vs Braian Nahuel Suarez.
An impressive feat considering the boxer from Salford made his debut less than three years ago with a comfortable points win over Ricky Leach. But this is still just the beginning for Murphy who wants to take his career to the next level in 2024.
“It’s funny because I’d be saying it’s my best year so far but I mean it’s only my second year,” said Murphy.
“So I suppose it’s easy for that to be my best year when I’ve only had two. It was perfect. I was busy. Two TV shows. The performances got better as the year went on and everything went well I suppose and I just sort of want to carry that over into this year and stay busy and keep improving. They say an active fighter is a dangerous fighter and I feel that was true and it sort of showed it last year with me so it was good I just want to carry on with that now.
“To top 2023 for me, personally it would be to get a fight soon - a good six-round fight. Maybe another six-round fight in the summer, around August/September time, maybe get an eight-rounder, and then at the end of the year box for a Central Area title and win that. That would be my ideal year if I could make everything go my way and choose the fights and say this is how it’s gonna be, that’s how I’d plan it out. But obviously, we know it's not as easy as that. That’s what I’d be hoping for.”
To attain his tenth win in the pro ranks, Murphy faced Brayan Mairena and put on a boxing clinic by winning every round on the referee's scorecard. On paper, Mairena might seem like your average journeyman, someone who is thrown in with a different prospect every week.
Yet that doesn’t mean victory is guaranteed. After all, Mairena has beaten up-and-coming fighters before - the best example being Frank Arnold in 2022, and therefore, Murphy prepared diligently.
“It was good because we had a good like four to six weeks notice of who I was fighting. It just gave us that chance to watch him, prepare and get your game plan and organise sparring around it and everything.
“Everything that we thought he would do, he did exactly that and we knew sort of how to counter it. So I think the game plan was spot on. That’s a big thanks to my coach as well, Brian [Gardner] he put a lot of work into analysing it and sort of coming up with the game plan for me.”
Following his win over Mairena, Murphy had the opportunity to visit New York for sparring at the famous Gleason’s gym in Brooklyn. A place that is home to 136 world champions and where some of the greatest boxers of all time once trained such as Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, and Jake LaMotta.
“We spoke to the head coach there Don Saxby and he was a top guy. Welcomed us and we arranged the sparring then. Sparred a lad, his nicknames’ ‘Cuba’, Alberto Morgado I think his actual name is.
“He’s a pro. He’d had four [fights] and it was perfect timing really because when I was there he had a fight in two weeks' time. He’s already fought now and he won, he stopped the lad as well, it was a good win for him. But yeah, we were the same weight, everything and it was perfect sparring for us both. So I went down there twice. We did four rounds both times.”
However, the Brit also had the chance to spar at another gym in The Big Apple as Murphy expressed how much his experience in America has developed him into a better fighter.
“Once we were out there my cutsman Mike Jackson got in touch and said he had a contact in Brooklyn at a gym called Gym X [Boxing]...He put me in touch with Mustafa who was a coach there and I went down. It was on our last day and sparred Courtney Pennington, a welterweight who’s been in with some good guys - been in with James Metcalf. I did six rounds with him. That was like a last-minute sort of spar and that’s probably the best spar of the holiday, to be honest, it was really good.
“I learned a lot from it. I’ve come away with tips. I’ve come away with new little things to work on. I’ve been having compliments in the gym since I’ve been back. I’ve been told I look like a completely different fighter now which is quite cool. I don’t feel like it. I feel like I’m just the same me, just added a few things to my game.”
This was before Murphy returned to the UK and sparred rounds with Campbell Hatton - the son of the legendary Ricky Hatton. Similar to Murphy, Campbell also competes in the super lightweight division and is scheduled to fight James Flint on March 23rd at Sheffield Arena for the Central Area super lightweight title.
“We knew he’d be ready for the sparring because obviously he’s got his big fight coming up, the Central Area title fight. Obviously, we got back from America because we had done some good rounds, we just wanted to carry it on really here and keep ticking over.
“Yeah, Brian got in touch with Matthew Hatton and asked him for some rounds with Campbell because we knew he would be ready and yeah, we got a good six in with Campbell. Yeah, good sparring, just good PR for me really.”
At the moment Murphy does not have a fight date pencilled in but the Salford native is planning to make his return in a couple of months, preferably on another TV show. After reaching 10-0, the stakes are higher for Murphy. So far he has passed all of his tests in the pro game with flying colours but this could be the year he is involved in some 50-50 contests as he continues to move up the rankings.
“We’re hoping for around April. We’ve got no set-in-stone date as it is now but just the sooner the better really for me. I do know Kieran [Farrell] he’s working hard behind the scenes and he’s trying to get me on some big shows. I know he’s trying to get me on an Eddie Hearn show in April on the Zelfa Barrett - [Jordan] Gill show. He’s been working hard behind the scenes to get me on that. We’ve not had a definite answer yet, not had a response yet so we’re still waiting and giving it time.
“Obviously, we can’t wait around all day as well so I suppose we’re just seeing how long we're gonna give that before we start looking for other shows. But at the same time mate, this time without a fight is giving me the time in the gym to work on the stuff. I’ve been getting some quality sparring. I’ve been in with Campbell, I’ve been down at [Joe] Gallagher’s sparring and been getting some good sparring at my gym.”
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About Daniele D’Alessio: Over the last few years Dan has written hundreds of articles for websites such as GiveMeSport, Sportskeeda, WorldInSport, NY Fights and Fights ATW in addition to conducting several interviews with professional and amateur boxers.