ALEX Murphy believes Aqib Fiaz is a ‘tailor-made’ opponent for him this Saturday on the undercard of Jack Catterall vs Harlem Eubank. Despite coming in as a late replacement, Murphy believes he has what it takes to inflict the second defeat of Fiaz’s pro career at Manchester Arena, live on DAZN.
“We think it’s a winnable fight,” Murphy told Boxing News Online.
“We feel like his style is tailor-made for me. It was a fight that we wanted anyway, even with 12 days’ notice. I’ve stayed in the gym, stayed sparring, stayed fit, stayed sharp and we’ve been working on a lot of stuff. There’s no reason not to accept.
“I’ve not had a six or eight-week camp to prepare for it. But I think even with the short notice it’s still a fight we win. As soon as we were offered it, we accepted.”
However, according to Murphy, the bout with Fiaz was discussed several weeks ago. Fiaz, 25, was meant to face Michael Gomez Jr, who pulled out due to injury.
Murphy continued: “Around six weeks ago we got offered the fight for this date and we accepted. This is my side of the story. He was meant to be fighting Gomez. Aqib then said he is moving up to lightweight because he can’t make super-featherweight anymore.
“That’s when I got the call and they asked me if I wanted to fight him at lightweight. We accepted. This was on a Tuesday morning and then I was told that I would have the contract through on Tuesday night.
“Then, on Tuesday afternoon, Michael Gomez Jr went on Twitter, giving Fiaz a bit of stick, calling him out for pulling out of the fight which they had arranged. Fiaz then went back to him and said he would fight him at a catchweight.
“He said he couldn’t make super-featherweight so he wanted to make a fight with him at a catchweight of 133 lbs. Gomez accepted that, so they announced their fight and I got left behind a little bit.”
Murphy, 24, is coming off a narrow points loss to Khaleel Majid in April on Queensbury’s undercard of Joe Joyce vs Filip Hrgovic – a contest that exceeded expectations and proved to be one of the most exciting spectacles of the night.
Against Majid, Murphy’s goal was to produce a good-enough performance to receive a multi-fight contract from Frank Warren, but in his contest with Fiaz, he now plans to woo Eddie Hearn.
“I’m not going to look into it too much in terms of if it’s close they are going to give it to him. I’ve never really thought about it that way. But really, I need to not make it close. Put a statement on and get the stoppage if possible.
“The last fight, I was the away fighter. This time I’m coming in as an away fighter again and I don’t want to make a habit of that. I want to be a home fighter. I really need to prove myself in this fight. Then, hopefully going forward, I can become the home fighter.
“I fell at the last hurdle with Majid so I’ve got to take this fight now, get the win, and hopefully get a contract with Matchroom. Any promoter who I could do a three-fight deal or get a long-term contract with, just to secure fights, will be good for my career.”
At five feet ten inches, ‘Super’ Murphy is expecting to be the physically bigger man in the ring against Fiaz, who has previously fought as low as 130 lbs.
“In the Majid fight, his sort of size and strength are what I struggled with towards the end. I feel like going into this fight, I am going to be the bigger man. I’m going to be taller and I’m going to be a lot bigger.
“I don’t think that will play a part in this fight, which is good. I’m buzzing to be the bigger man in this one. We’re still going to be weighing the same on the day before. We will then refuel and I imagine I’ll be a lot bigger than him going into the fight.”
Nevertheless, Saturday night won’t be the first time the Lancashire natives will swap leather.
“I sparred him once before at Jamie Moore’s gym. I can’t remember whether it was this year or last year. We did six or eight rounds. It was good sparring from what I remember.
“I’ve been there a couple of times. I’ve also sparred Cameron Vuong at the gym. So I’ve seen him. I never spoke to him. The first time I spoke to him was the time we sparred together. Seems like a nice guy. No bad blood from my side.
“I’m just looking forward to getting the fight on and entertaining. I think he’s got an entertaining style. I believe I do as well. It should be another barnstormer for the fans.”
Murphy and Fiaz have identical professional records with 13 wins and one loss.
Yet Fiaz has arguably faced a higher calibre of opposition than Murphy, notably getting stopped by Reece Bellotti in 2023 when challenging for the Commonwealth super-featherweight title.
