Gorman after Murray's title by Steve Wellings Mar 21st 2008

Amidst all the hullabaloo of high level professional boxing, we can easily forget the hard, honest pros out to make a living, a million miles away from the glamour of Las Vegas or a packed MEN arena awaiting the heroic entrance of Ricky Hatton. Just recently we spoke to Irish light-welterweight champion Andrew Murray ahead of his rematch with Belfast's James Gorman in Dublin, this coming weekend. Gorman is the epitome of an honest professional; well conditioned, tough and willing to take on all comers – anytime, anyplace. No sooner had the first clash abruptly ended on a cut than Gorman was back in training for a return bout, “As soon as we left the ring Alio (manager Alan Wilton) was talking about the rematch.” With a record that belies his abilities, Gorman – nicknamed ‘The Chin'- has developed a crowd pleasing style which breeds a strong crowd following from his native east-Belfast base. “I take every fight as it comes along and leave all the business side up to Alio. If he puts an opponent in front of me then I'll fight him, he's the brains behind it,” admits James who is enjoying his fifth year in the pro game. Fitting training in around work and family life is a task many boxers choose to undertake, but Gorman sees his job as a positive rather than negative aspect. “The way I work is four on and four off so it works in well with my training regime. It's two days followed by two nights and then I'm off work for four days and in a way that helps me so I can get all my training and sparring done. I don't drink much either so the weekends don't bother me.” The fight with Murray will be the third time Gorman has challenged for the elusive Irish belt and he hopes it can become “Third time lucky” on Saturday night. In January, Gorman dropped a contentious ten round decision to local favourite Billy Walsh in Cork. The fight was made up at welterweight and went right to the wire. “I thought in myself that I won the Walsh fight and had it been anywhere else I would have been taking that belt away,” he reflects. “It was a move up to welterweight as well but I'm back to light-welterweight again for this one; it was a great fight with Walsh.” That will have only made him sharper as the inevitable Murray rematch was made and training resumed as usual. “The training's going brilliant and I've been preparing ever since the first fight and the fight in-between with Billy Walsh. “I had a game plan to go out and see what Andrew had because we had never fought each other before. You do that in every fight to see what the opponents got and I felt like I was holding on, getting stronger and then the referee and the doctor stopped it on cuts. It was a very strange ending.” James recalls that as an amateur he had around one hundred contests, reached a few semi-finals in the All-Ireland's and Ulster tournaments but despite being well travelled, couldn't quite get the break needed. “I just couldn't win anything!” he jokes. But the competitive spirit led him into the paid code and he has shared the squared circle with many good quality opponents. “The best opponent I have faced was also the shortest (fight) against (George) Hillyard, as he was really a middleweight. My first fight was tough as well, because you obviously learn a lot in your first fight. Stephen Haughian was a hard fight too, with him being a southpaw.” But as time ticks by, this amiable 28-year-old keeps lacing on the gloves and waiting for his chance to get the big win. In October 2007 Gorman raised the roof at a fervent Park Avenue Hotel in Belfast when he claimed his first pro title, the vacant Northern Ireland Area crown by beating Gary Hamilton. He hopes the Irish will soon follow and then who knows what? “If I do well this year then touch wood we can move on to bigger and better things but it's Alio who makes the fights as I will fight anybody. He's been in the fight game a long time and I rate him very highly, plus I have never ducked anyone either.” It certainly makes matchmaking a great deal easier with that attitude. While Ricky Hatton and James Gorman may enter their respective arenas with differing levels of ability, there will be little to choose between them when it comes to desire.

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Thanks Mar 22nd 2008, 09:59:14 by gkt999 Thanks steve for another good article, sorry James took so long to get back to you but work and training were keeping him busy. Just an awful pity about the knee injury now. No Luck but rotten luck at Team Alio in recent weeks. theres a broken mirror in the gym about to get thrown out now, we'll try anything to get back to winning form lol.   James Gorman Mar 21st 2008, 04:01:58 by ardybo Great article Steve, on a throw-back fighter who deserves all the plaudits you have given him.