Martin Murray: George Groves will crumble against me
Monday 6 June 2016 21:52, UK
Martin Murray says he will make domestic rival George Groves "crumble" when they meet at the O2 Arena on June 25.
The 33-year-old (33-3-1 KO16) faces Groves (23-3-0 KO18) in an eliminator for the WBA world super-middleweight title on the undercard of Anthony Joshua v Dominic Breazeale, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
Both fighters are yet to taste world title glory in their respective careers, but whoever is victorious will become the mandatory challenge for Giovanni De Carolis' WBA strap.
Murray is convinced he has the attributes to defeat Groves and claims the 28-year-old's "stamina issues" will ensure the fight swings in his favour if it reaches the later rounds.
"I train for fights to go all the way and take my opponents into deep waters," Murray said.
"I've shown that I have got a good engine and can sustain a good work rate over 12 rounds.
"George has stamina issues, that's well known, the fight favours me late on with him fading and my high work rate over 12 rounds, but it favours him early with his power and I know that, and it makes for an exciting fight.
"I have one of the best defences in world boxing, I've been in with better fighters than George who have not been able to get rid of me and I am that confident in this fight that the only way he can beat me is if I lose concentration and get caught with something stupid early."
Having failed to win a world title on four previous occasions, Murray has previously accepted that a defeat against Groves could spell the end for him in boxing.
Groves has failed three times in his quest to become a world champion, losing twice to Carl Froch and once to Badou Jack.
Murray added: "He was clinically beaten by Carl Froch and those defeats took a lot out of him. He hasn't had a fight that hard since and on June 25 he's going to be in a real fight.
"When it gets hard for him, psychologically it's going to be tough. I will break him and he will crumble."
Don't miss Joshua v Breazeale live on Sky Sports Box Office on June 25 - with George Groves v Martin, Chris Eubank Jr v Tom Doran and more on the undercard.
