Murrays make 1,700 mile trek for Ohio bill

Charles gained the best boxer of the night award

THE fighting Murray twins, from Cannock, are certainly prepared to travel for a fight. They’ve just journeyed over 1,700 miles to do battle in…Ohio.

Charles and Henry, aged 18, fought in the former steel town of Struthers, Youngstown, on Saturday. And they went down a storm.

Accompanied by dad Scott, who runs Cannock’s Premier Suite and the Excelsior Sporting Club, the pair faced something very different from the shows they usually fight on for Wolverhampton ABC.

Over 1,000 people were packed into “Old St Nick’s” church hall for a bill that featured 17 bouts. And that audience included local former world champ Ray Mancini – a close friend of Scott’s, ex IBF cruiser titleholder Jeff Lampkin and Darnell Boone, who fought the world’s best at middle and light-heavy.

Henry with his Pittsburgh opponent after their absolute war

Charles gained a comfortable win over a Colombian and earned the best boxer of the night award. Henry lost narrowly after an absolute war with a Pittsburgh boxer which was named fight of the night.

Scott described the experience as “incredible”.

“The place itself was like a cross between The Deer Hunter and Footloose. It was a very religious area,” he said.

“And everyone in the community came out to watch the show in a huge old church hall. The venue was amazing.”

He added: “They treated us like kings – you could not meet nicer people. They couldn’t believe we’d travelled so far to box.”

The twins were scheduled to fight in the Toronto Box Cup. When that fell through, Scott, with the help of Ray Mancini, arranged the Ohio adventure.

It proved the perfect tune-up as the pair prepare for the step-up to elite level.