Boxing against Eastern Counties champion and England international Marcus Pouston at the Olympia Arena, Liverpool, the Leonis ABC man lost the four-round-contest 10-3 on the controversial, and much disliked, computer scoring system.
Said Western Counties champion Murray (22) this morning: ‘I got off to a slow start in the first round and couldn’t catch up with him although I thought the score was a lot closer than 10-3.
He’s certainly a well schooled boxer, but I do believe I could have beaten him – I think I left my best work behind in the gym.’ But the disappointed Murray, accompanied by coaches Dave Thompson and Eddie Stuart, is already make plans for a title tilt next year.
‘The scoring system is frustrating, it makes it such a different sport to the boxing I know.
So it’s going to be a case of back to the drawing board if I want to do well in the ABAs.
I’ll simply have to change.
But I watched some of the other bouts and they were being scored 10-1.
How can good quality boxers go four rounds and only score one point?’ Murray main bone of contention is that the strength and quality of punches seems to matter far less than before, with points accumulated by simply making contact, no matter how light, leading to a ‘quick-in, quick out’ style of boxing.
He’s backed up by coach Thompson: ‘We’ll have to adapt.
It’s a different game to what we do – it’s more like tag.
You simply must not get hit.
‘Ben has worked ever so hard to get here.
But he landed two great rights that rocked Pouston and came on strong in the last round – yet didn’t get a point! There’s a lot of areas in the country that have adapted well to the system and we’ll have to do the same.’
