Interview: Murtagh still loves his boxing by Paul Concannon Oct 11th 2006

Following the collapse of a mooted Central Area title defence in September, Britishboxing.net recently caught up with Leeds light-middleweight Lee Murtagh and his trainer, former European title challenger Mark McCreath at the Phsyique Gym on Leeds' York Road, to discuss this, and the veteran southpaw's plans for the future.  BB.net: Hi Lee, for those who don't know you – tell us a little about your background. LM: I'm a Leeds-based fighter from a Belfast family. My dad, James Murtagh was the motivation behind me starting. He was the Northern Irish schoolboy champion back in the fifties and my interest in boxing started through him. BB.net. Lee, you were advertised to fight Manoo Salari in a light-middleweight central area title defence in September at the town hall in Leeds – for a variety of reasons, the fight and the bill didn't come off – what's the story with your bout? LM: The first I knew about the fight was some three weeks before the date, when I got a call from the show's promoter Rick Manners telling me that I had official Central Area board notification to fight. I was about a stone overweight and I had less than three weeks to prepare for a ten-rounder. I asked him where the Central Area were getting off giving me three weeks notice to prepare! They had voted 8-3 in favour of me defending on that date but there was no way I could have been ready on time. Next thing I knew, the fight was advertised, my name was on posters but I never signed or received a contract for that fight. BB.Net: What's your current status with the central area? LM: Still champion at light-middle as far as I know, I gave the Central Area middleweight title up straight away (after beating Dean Walker back in 2004), and that remains vacant. BB.NET: With the a little more notice, will you be happy to meet Salari at a later point down the line? LM: I think it's going to be politically complicated to make now. BB.net: On a different note, rising prospect Danny Reynolds is another Leeds light-middleweight whose name has been mentioned with yours – how do you feel about the prospect of fighting Danny? LM: I hadn't realised his name had been mentioned along with mine! But no, Danny is a good lad, a really nice guy and we have sparred a few rounds here and there too, but he's still at the four round stage – I think he's 4-0-1 so don't think they will be looking for ten-rounders for him just yet. MM: We know Danny, he's a good lad, and punches hard – he actually fought Ricky Hatton a couple of times in the amateurs. BB.net: There had been rumours that you are being matched for a WBF later in the year. What's the story there? LM: That is true, we are hoping it's going to happen the last week in November. Not sure of the details just yet, only that it will be against foreign opposition and the title's vacant, they usually are! It will be on a Dave Coldwell promotion. BB.net: How and where did you get into boxing? LM: My dad was boxing mad – he was a big part of the early success of the old Burmantofts club. Back in the day he was responsible for getting them a huge government grant, like 30K; at that time, that was a hell of a lot of money. It was just a shell when they got started and that grant got them fully kitted out and equipped. Back when they had the grand opening I was something of a mascot, I got to meet the Sports Minister when I was about eight years old. I get a lump in my throat when I talk about Burmantofts because we don't really talk to each other now. BB.net: Why? LM: Bit of a long story, but essentially here's what happened; the guy running the gym was a bloke called Brian Rhodes, who is no longer with us, God rest his soul. He was a good guy, but he had a touch of ‘We don't have enough stars here' syndrome. We had words and he threw me out of the gym when I was just 16 years old. Eventually, when Brian died the gym was taken over by some of the younger lads that used to be boxers there, and they still carried on the grudge for some reason. The upshot is I have no relationship with Burmantofts anymore. BB.net: Tell me a bit about this gym and your involvement in it. LM: It's called Physique, and the boxing side of it's mine. We do personal training for male and female fighters here, and do an intensive boxersise class. We also use a revolutionary piece of equipment known as the Mac-Pad, which has been designed by Mark. MM: Yes, I invented it as an alternative to the conventional pads. Effectively, it simulates the size and shape of the head, so is more realistic – just one target area rather than two, (Mark proceeded to demonstrate the pad on yours truly. The device its a hollowed-out ball with two grip handles inside) without putting the strain on the arms and the same jarring effect on the trainer – so it's good for both the boxer and whoever's holding the pads. LM: After using the Mac-Pad, it's very difficult to go back to the conventional pads. I trained Nell McAndrew. When she phoned to arrange her classes, I thought someone was winding me up and I nearly told them to piss off! But sure enough it was the real Nell McAndrew and I trained her for a while until she ended up getting pregnant so couldn't do the training any more. BB.net: The perks of the job eh? How have you occupied your time since your last bout in January?  LM: I was due to fight Jim Rock in Dublin for the All-Ireland title earlier in the year, but Rock came in a pound overweight. When we insisted on him taking off the rest of his weight, his manager, Brian Peters, hit the roof and told us where to go – it was pretty ugly to be honest and we ended up in Dublin with no fight and no money! For the record, I was more than willing to go through with the fight, but it was them that broke the contract (with the weight dispute) yet we were the ones getting yelled at!  MM: In all my years of boxing I have never seen anything like the attitude of that guy. They broke the contract and we get made to feel like we were in the wrong! LM: Luckily I have a friend over there that looked after us, and later on we ended up in the pub, and Rock's fight with Jimmy Phelan, who came in as replacement was on the TV. That was all I needed!  MM: Probably due to weight, Rock performed badly – people were telling Lee he could have fucking beat the guy, and they were absolutely right. BB.net: Speaking of your last bout, that was against undefeated prospect Gary Woolcombe; what are you thoughts on Woolcombe? LM: He's a good kid, you can't really fault him; what happened was we clashed heads early so I ended up fighting the guy with one eye. MM: And that's the problem with Lee, he has that warrior mentality, when he gets cut or hurt he ends up having a tear-up and going after people, instead of relaxing and thinking about the situation, he goes in and has a war! I am getting him out of that mentality and making sure that when a crisis occurs he sticks with his game instead of going in blasting. I am convinced he could have beaten Woolcombe if it wasn't for that head clash. LM: Something clicks and I just end up trying to overwhelm people with workrate and pressure.  MM: And sometimes, when you do that, what happens is you come unstuck. BB.NET: You are a southpaw and your record doesn't indicate you are a puncher – to those who have not seen you fight, how would describe your style? LM: Like my dad, I'm, a southpaw and I would like to think I am a bit of a mover, but sometimes I let my heart rule my head, and Mark has me focussing on skill and strategy. MM: Like in the Dean Walker fight, when he boxed for four or fives rounds then all of a sudden turned it into a trench war!  BB.net: Prior to that defeat you scored a big win over the then undefeated Jason Rushton in a Central area light-middleweight title fight - what was that like going to Rushton's back yard and taking a clear decision? MM: That was a such a great night, he boxed a perfect fight. Imagine, this was a fighter (Rushton) that had never lost, amateur or professional, and we go into his back yard and gave him a boxing lesson. As a trainer, I have had two fighters that have beaten guys who have never lost, the first being Lee Swaby when he knocked out Enzo Maccarinelli, but this was the most satisfying. Lee's performance that night was textbook; I preach strategy and that's how we beat Rushton – that was a great, great night. BB.net: So Lee, you currently being trained by former European light-welterweight challenger Mark McCreath – how long has Mark trained you and how did that association come about? LM: It started a few years ago, we had known each other for a while and I saw Mark training a few people and saw what he was doing for them, so I wanted him to work with me. He's brought me on loads in my fighting and my training. BB.net: What's it like working with Lee, how would you describe him as fighter and a trainer? MM: Lee is a beautiful guy; we are almost joined at the hip now! You will have heard the expression this game's more physical than mental, and Lee is a real warrior, I know he will never let me or himself down. Working with him has brought me along as a trainer. BB.net: You were based in Lincoln during your distinguished fighting career – you retired back in 1995 after a valiant defeat to Dingaan Thobela, when did you begin training fighters and how did you find your way up to Leeds? MM: Originally I am from Shipley in West Yorkshire, but fought professionally down in Lincoln. Gradually I made my way back up to Yorkshire. Leeds is a lovely city, with so much cultural diversity. Shipley was a shit-hole! There was only one Asian girl and me that were not white in the whole school, and the mentality there was so backward. I was getting into fights every single day. BB.net: Lee, If you could choose your next opponent, who would that be and why? LM: I was due to fight Josef Matlowski a while ago for a WBF title, but had to pull out with a big abcess on my foot. A fight like that would be great, or of course, the Irish title. You never know, Brian Peters might just call and winning the Irish title means so much to me, I might just be stupid enough to accept!  BB.Net: Lee, your 33 and you have been boxing professionally since 1995 – in that time you have picked up British Masters and Central area titles – how long do you see yourself fighting for? LM: Only God knows the answer to that – and to be fair, money's not the issue or the motivation. I keep fighting because I love boxing. For more information on Murtagh, please visit his website: www.the-ring.co.uk

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