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M S am a n th a M u r r a y


Samantha aims for world medal


ByChrisBoden chris.boden@jpress.oo.uk Follow@bodenknights.


Samantha Murray hopes to have thechandetoaddto her medal haul in Warsawtomor- row.


Luke Blackledge is in action in Blackburn on Saturday night Luke seeks WBC glory -ByDajv Black


w dani6l.black@jpress.co.uk Follow@DanBlack84 .


. Boxinghasareputationof 9 beingplaguedbypoliticsrpro- motersand money.


While some fighters put blood, sweat and tears in to the sport for a meagrepay day, others get a free ride in to the top to on the gravy train provided by boxing’s conglomerates. Eddie Hearn of Matchroom


Sport, Frank Warren and Mick Hennessy have monopolised the


Q sport and it comes as no surprise to see their respective stables dominating.


The up-and-comers in Luke


Blackledge'ssupermiddleweight divisionhaveallbeenmouldedby one of the aforementioned czars of boxing. They may have proven ability-butJamesDeGale, George Groves, Callum Smith and Rocky Fielding, among others, have all been helped along the way. Blackledge,ontheotherhand,


has engineered his own success. The 24-year-old has worked his way up from the basement to a shotattheWBCInternationalSil- vertitle.Andit’shisowngraftand determination that’s ultimately propelled his career. OnSaturdayAlexMatvienko's


student faces Ghana’s Philip Ko- tey for the fringe world strap in


a 12-round contest which head­ lines the first ever professional show to be held at Blackburn’s King George’s Hall. “This is my big chance so I


can’t afford any slip-ups now,” he said. “I’ve just got to do the busi­ ness now. I’m fighting Philip Ko- tey from Ghana. He’s got a good record with 29 wins and 22 by knockout. He’s fought at world level and gone up against Kell Brook. He’s an experienced op- ponent so this will be a good step up forme. “This is my chance to im­


pact on the WBC rankings so I've beentraininghardforiU’vebeen working on my defence, tech- niqueandfitnessbutl’veonlyhad


a week to work towards fighting my opponent.” Blackledge, who beat Jody


Meikle and Darren McKenna in recent outings, added: “I can’t wait. I could be up there with some big names and that would be amazing. This could open doors. I’ve got to box smart be­ cause he’s a big puncher so I can’t rushin.l’mlookingforwardtoap- pearing on the card’s main event in a 12-rounder. The showis asell out so it's going to be brilliant. “Two good wins this year has


helped me towards this contest. I want to keep improving because I love the sport. I love training and Iloveboxing.NowIwanttomake the most of it."


Yesterday, after we went to press, the West Bradford ace was in action in the modern pentathlon World Champion­ ship women’s individual quali­ fiers alongside GB teammates Kate French, Freyja Prentice and Mhairi Spence. Samantha won the bronze


medal at the Worlds in Rome two years ago, earning her au­ tomatic qualification for the Olympic Games in London, where she claimed silver. That memory spurs her


on as she bids for glory after an eighth place finish at the recent European Champion­ ships in Budapest: “It’s a case of same again from the Euros really, the same focus. “I’m hoping for a medal,


but we’U see how well I can do. “It’s so inspiring when I


think of Rome, I’ll be drawing on those memories. “It was right up there in


terms of my career, maybe even more so than the Olym­


pics because the World Cham­ pionships are probably harder to win a medal at.” She goes into the Cham­


pionships believing she has kicked on from two years agi: “I’ve made a lot of progress in my skill levels and overall I’m a much better athlete. “I’ve made improvements - I’ve not got the medals to show


■ for that, but I know I have.” In a matter o f three


months, eyes will turn back to the Olympics as the British athletes begin their journey to qualify for Rio in Decem­ ber with the first of three na­ tional ranking competitions at the University of Bath. The national ranking com­


petitions will help determine selections for major compe­ titions on the 2015 interna­ tional calendar, when the first qualification places are upforgrabs. They include the 2015 Eu­


ropean Championships at the University of Bath, when the top-eight men and women will achieve the Olympic qualify­ ing standard for Rio. Samantha said: “It would


be nice to end the season on a high, before everyone focuss­ es on Olympic qualification.”


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