Former British and European lightweight champion John Murray, raised in Levenshulme, is behind bars
John Murray(Image: M.E.N.)
A former boxing champion has been jailed after attacking his ex-partner and punching another woman during a petty parking row. John Murray, 41, originally from Levenshulme, enjoyed a successful career in the sport before being forced to retire through injury in 2014.
He fought big names, including Anthony Crolla, and appeared on the undercard at the Oscar De La Hoya vs Floyd Mayweather world title clash in Las Vegas in 2007. Murray, who opened his own gym after hanging up his gloves, is now behind bars following shocking attacks on two women.
Minshull Street Crown Court heard the former British and European lightweight champion was working as a delivery driver in 2023. On January 20, he launched an unprovoked attack on a woman after blocking her drive.
Try MEN Premium NOW for just £1
The victim, who had her two children in the back of her car, was punched in the face after she challenged Murray and another woman.
“As [the other woman] grabbed her hair, the defendant punched her to the face,” prosecutor Eleanor Myers said. “Her children were screaming ‘get off my mum’ as her partner came to help.”
John Murray(Image: Reuters)
Murray punched the woman again before driving off, hitting her car as he left. The badly-shaken victim was left with a broken nose. In a statement, she said: “This changed me as a person, I do not feel like I am the same person I was. I cannot leave the house on my own any more.”
Ms Myers told the court that on July 15, 2023, after splitting with his former partner, he went to her home to discuss a family issue. Woken by banging at her door, she looked out of a front window.
“She didn’t see anything outside that could have caused the banging, so turned her back,” the prosecutor said. “As she did, the defendant was coming in through the window.
“She ran from the room and he followed her to the bedroom. He walked up to her and strangled her with both of his hands around her neck. He held onto her for 45 seconds.”
The woman shouted at him, pleading for him to let go. Murray grabbed her hair and repeatedly punched her in the head. She ran downstairs, followed by Murray. He then threw her on the sofa and jumped on top of her, before biting her breast.
John Murray(Image: M.E.N.)
She attempted to calm him down, before punching her again and kicking in the stomach. “She was gasping for air and begging him to stop,” Ms Myers added.
After the attack, Murray said: “Look what you made me do – look at your neck.” The woman ran outside as he shouted: “Get here you s**g.”
A passer-by stepped in. Murray threw two unsuccessful punches at him. The woman suffered bruising to her breast, neck and face; and a cut to the back of her ear.
“This incident has really shocked me,” she said in a statement. “I never expected him to be so horrible in my life, and I hope I don’t have to again. I don’t feel safe in my own home.”
Mitigating, Isobel Thomas said Murray had a successful boxing career and was ‘admired by many’. “His boxing career was cut short… after sustaining an eye injury,” she added.
John Murray(Image: M.E.N.)
“He was forced to find a new career and this was a difficult time for him. He opened his own boxing gym and that gave him a purpose. For financial reasons, he had to close the boxing gym. He struggled and felt he lost his purpose in life.”
Murray, of Lichfield Walk, Romiley, earlier pleaded guilty to strangulation; assault occasioning actual bodily harm; and assault by beating. He was jailed for three years and banned from contacting his ex-partner for seven years under the terms of a restraining order.
Murray retired in November 2014 at the age of 29. He suffered a detached retina in his final fight against Anthony Crolla in Manchester that April. Murray finished his career with a 33-3 record.
He went on to train amateur and professional boxers at his gym in Reddish, Stockport, prior to its closure. Murray took up boxing after stacking shelves at a supermarket and flipping burgers at McDonald’s as a teenager.