Former British boxing champion jailed for disgusting attacks on two women

John Murray, 41, enjoyed a successful career in boxing before being forced to retire through injury in 2014 and has now been jailed after attacking two women in separate incidents

A former boxing champion has been imprisoned following an assault on his ex-partner and an attack on another woman during a parking dispute. John Murray, 41, originally from Levenshulme in Manchester, had a distinguished career in the ring before injury forced his retirement in 2014.

He faced notable opponents, including Anthony Crolla, and featured on the undercard of the Oscar De La Hoya vs Floyd Mayweather world title bout in Las Vegas in 2007. Murray, who established his own gym after retiring from competition, is now serving time behind bars following disturbing assaults on two women.

Minshull Street Crown Court was told the former British and European lightweight champion was employed as a delivery driver in 2023. On 20 January, he carried out an unprovoked assault on a woman after obstructing her driveway.

The victim, who had her two children in the rear of her vehicle, was struck in the face after she confronted 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.”

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Murray struck the woman once more before departing, colliding with her vehicle as he drove away. The severely distressed victim sustained 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, following his separation from his former partner, he visited her residence to discuss a family matter. Roused by hammering at her door, she peered 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 cried out at him, begging him to release her. Murray seized her hair and repeatedly struck her in the head.

“She rushed downstairs, with Murray in pursuit. He then hurled her onto the sofa and leapt on top of her, before biting her breast.

“She tried to pacify him, before he punched her again and kicked her in the stomach. She was gasping for air and begging him to stop.”

Following the assault, Murray declared: “Look what you made me do – look at your neck.” The woman fled outside as he yelled: “Get here you s**g.”

A passer-by intervened. Murray launched two failed punches at him. The woman sustained bruising to her breast, throat and face; and a gash 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 stated.

“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 hung up his gloves in November 2014 aged 29. He sustained a detached retina in his final bout against Anthony Crolla in Manchester that April.

Murray concluded his career with a 33-3 record. He subsequently coached amateur and professional fighters at his gym in Reddish, Stockport, before it shut down. Murray entered boxing after working on supermarket shelves and serving burgers at McDonald’s as a youngster.