James Murray (7 December 1969 – 15 October 1995) was a Scottish professional

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

. He died as a result of injuries sustained in his last

fight Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

Career

Murray was born in

Lanark Lanark (; gd, Lannraig ; sco, Lanrik) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a population of 9 ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He won the BBBofC Scottish Area bantamweight title in November 1994, and defended it once. On 13 October 1995, Murray was unknowingly a victim of a bleed in his brain; during the fight he fell to the floor of the ring and had a seizure. This match was against

Drew Docherty Drew Docherty (born 19 November 1965) is a Scottish former boxer who was British champion at both bantamweight (1992–1997) and super bantamweight (1999). Married to Caroline Bradshaw and has two children. Career Born in Glasgow and based in ...

for the BBBofC British bantamweight title fight at the Hospitality Inn in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. He died of brain injuries two days later, aged 25. Murray compiled a 15-win (5 by knockout), 2-loss, no draws record. Prior to that, Bradley Stone died of a brain hemorrhage after he lost his fight for the BBBofC British

super bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanctioning organizations or ...

title at the

York Hall The York Hall, officially known as York Hall Leisure Centre, is a multi-purpose indoor arena and leisure complex in Bethnal Green, London, and is situated on Old Ford Road. The building opened in 1929 with a capacity of 1,200 and is now an inter ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in April 1994. Frank Warren who promoted Murray's last fight established the Murray Stone Fund named after those two boxers to finance the

MRI Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves ...

scan for every British fighter. A bronze statue of Murray was erected in

Newmains Newmains is a village and former mining community on the eastern edge of Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, south-east of Glasgow. Although it is considered by the local authority to have a town centre in its own right. History The story of a ...

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also ...

, Scotland in the following year.

References

External links

* 1969 births 1995 deaths Scottish male boxers Bantamweight boxers Deaths due to injuries sustained in boxing Sport deaths in Scotland People from Newmains Sportspeople from North Lanarkshire {{Scotland-boxing-bio-stub