Murray lands title shot

Manchester lightweights John Murray and Lee Meager will fight for the vacant British title at the Robin Park Arena in Wigan on July 11.

Sparring partner Meager stands in way of British belt

Manchester lightweights John Murray and Lee Meager will fight for the vacant British title at the Robin Park Arena in Wigan on July 11, live on Sky Sports. Jon Thaxton is the reigning champion but he has been given another shot at the European title, leaving the domestic belt up for grabs. The more experienced Meager won the title in 2006 but lost it to Thaxton later in the year, and fought just twice in 2007 including on the Hatton-Mayweather bill in Las Vegas, where Murray also claimed a win. At 23, Murray is seven years younger than his opponent and remains undefeated in 24 contests with half of those wins by way of knockout. He is the heir-apparent but Meager deserves a second bite at the cherry, according to promoter Mick Hennessy. "They've sparred together on a few occasions and ringside observers in the gym at the time have all said they have been out and out wars, really entertaining encounters," said Hennessy. "It's hard to see two of your own fighters square off but the British title means so much to them and they both want this title really badly." Meanwhile, Thaxton will take on Juan Carlos Diaz Melero for the EBU European title in Norwich in September. Thaxton suffered a demoralising loss to Yuri Romanov on cuts in April but gets another stab at the title against Spaniard Diaz Melero, another of Romanov's victims. "I'm grateful to Mick and the team for working hard to get me a second chance," Thaxton said. "I'm training harder than ever to make sure that I put right what I did wrong last time out."