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Belfast’s veteran
kickboxing champion Billy Murray swept to an emphatic victory in
his comeback fight on Sunday.
The 47-year-old, making a final ring return, said he felt “on
top of the world” as he rolled back the years to completely
dominate his New Zealand opponent Norm Graham in their five round
match. Their top-of-the-bill clash was watched by a sell-out 1,500
capacity crowd in Belfast’s Ulster Hall.
Murray said after the fight: "This was always going to be special
– my final fight in this wonderful arena where I won my first
title 25 years ago. The crowd were amazing, they kept me going when
my old legs got weary. Norm and I had history that I now think I’ve
put right. I want to pay tribute to him for taking the fight and
for proving such a tough, durable opponent but most of all I want
to thank this amazing crowd."
Ever the showman, Murray made quite an entrance. The Ulster Hall’s
old pipe organ was cranked up, wheezing like a silent movie soundtrack,
as the former champion marched to the ring through fireworks, spotlights
and a rapturous ovation.
He took the fight to Graham from the first bell, catching him with
a couple of bone-shaking body-blows and a flurry of head-shots.
It was Murray’s punching that carried him through the five
rounds. His old bones aren’t as flexible as they once were
and his trademark roundhouse kicks to the head not as frequent or
as deadly.
But his time in a training camp in Lanzarote and sparring with former
British champion boxer Sam Storey paid dividend as his punches had
enough to keep Graham on his bike throughout the fight.
Graham paid tribute to Murray. "He got me," said the Kiwi.
"He was in remarkable shape. He was hitting hard and I couldn’t
get close to him to land a proper punch. We fought almost five years
ago and I’m convinced he was in better shape tonight than
then."
Murray took the fight as a fund-raiser for a friend seriously ill
with cancer and for the cancer ward as Belfast’s City Hospital.
The gallant former champ added afterwards that he wanted to thank
all the back-room staff - fighters, trainers and helpers who had
contributed to the night.
Click
here for photographs of the night.
Headline - A Great
Night For ProKick
ProKick’s position as the pre-eminent kickboxing gym in Ireland
was secured on Sunday when many of Billy Murray’s protégés
scored victories on his fight undercard.
Gary Hamilton, the featherweight champion of the world, had a points
win against France’s Fabio Pinca. Despite sweeping through
the first two rounds, Hamilton didn’t have it all his own
way. Pinca belied his lack of experience to push the champion hard
and ask a lot of questions. Hamilton never found a steady rhythm
but did just about enough to take the fight on points.
Galway’s Black Dragon and prokick's adapted son - Ken Horan
had a difficult night too. Canada’s Dave Jones made the Middleweight
work hard for his
three round points victory. In fact, the Canadian team – led
by legendary figure Jean-Yves Theriault – ran all their Irish
opponents close. It took every bit of grit and fibre they had for
the ProKick fighters Andrew Grimason, Lydia Braniff and Stephen
Cully to take their matches.
Other fights on the card:
Heavyweight bout 3x2 (92Kg)
Freddy Kinnersley (Winner on points)
(Portadown) Vs Chris Dowling (Galway)
Light welterweight bout 3x2 (64Kg)
Bill Morrow (Belfast) V Stephen Wall (Kilkenny) (Winner
on points)
Super-Welterweight bout 3x2 (68Kg)
Kyle Cully(Winner RSF 2) (Portavogie)
Vs David Walsh Kilkenny
Light-Middleweight bout 3x2 (72Kg)
Stephen Weatherup (Belfast) V Darren Tobin (Winner
on points)(Galway)
Light welterweight bout 2x2 (64kg)
Gareth Heaney (Belfast) (Winner walk over)
Welterweight bout 2x2 (66kg)
John Ward (Dromora) (Winner walk over)
Click
here for photographs of the night.
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