Chalrles Murray
One Last Try for "The Natural"
Photo by Ray Bailey
(908) 753-9534
 With the same grace and
fluidity he displayed in the ring, Charles "The Natural" Murray, 47-6
(26), is slowly winding down his illustrious career and making the
transition to full-time trainer.
Murray, who holds wins
over "Irish" Micky Ward, Livingstone Bramble (twice), Israel "Pito"
Cardona, Reggie Green, Juan Laporte, Fitz Vanderpool, and Tony Lopez
says he will take one more run at another world championship before he
devotes the rest of his life to teaching others to box "the natural
way."
Having won and
successfully defended the IBF Junior Welterweight title three times,
the 33-year-old says he is even more proud of his budding crop of
amateurs than he is of his own accomplishments. Training out of the
Avenue D Recreation Center in Rochester NY, Murray's stable includes
ten boxers rated nationally in their weight divisions. Among these
young fighters are his own brothers Andrew (11) and Harvey (13).
"I'm happy," says the
former champion. "Even if I don't make it to the title one more time,
I'm ok. I got a woman I love named Deshawn and she loves me for me. My
kids I teach love me and they listen to me."
On April 19th he begins
his final ring quest against Alfredo Cuevas, 19-4 (13).
The opponent for your next
fight will be Alfredo Cuevas, what do you think of him?
I watched a tape of him. He has decent skills, but he's a little slow.
He exposes himself a lot. He offers too much of a problem if my timing
is off, but I don't think my timing will be off. Training went pretty
good. It's just a matter of how my timing is and I know it's on
because it was there in sparring.
You've had a great career
that has lasted a long time. How much do you have left as a boxer?
It's hard to say. It's hard to tell when a person's time is up. I'll
know when I fight. If I don't feel good enough to go on, I won't. I
train kids anyway, and I love it. I have two brothers who are amateur
boxers that I train and one is a national champion. He just won the
silver gloves. My other brother, they robbed him, but he's still
number three in the country. I have a cousin who is number 2. I've got
two national champions and I have 10 amateur fighters in the top 5 in
their weight classes right now.
I've been training
seriously since May last year. I love it. They all listen real good
and fight real good too. They're starting to learn, so it's a joy to
watch someone that you teach win. They love you so much they have
confidence in what you tell them.
How did you get your
nickname "The Natural?"
My coach in the amateurs gave me that name. My stance is a natural
one. I have a natural jab and natural movement, so it fit.
What do you do during the
day?
I run the gym up here in Rochester during the day, I teach grown ups
that want to learn how to box. Then I teach the kids at night and I
work out myself too. I work from 9 to 9 every day. I think the adults
I teach are people who never really fulfilled their fantasy to be a
fighter. You lose weight and get in shape and it's a great way to do
it: The Natural Way (laughs).
Do your clients know a
former world champion is teaching them boxing?
Yeah, most of them know. Sometimes people don't realize who I am until
they hear my name. They know the name around here, but they don't know
it's me. It's one of those things where it doesn't matter if they know
me or not, but it makes them feel good to know I'm training them. I
learned a lot working with different coaches on the amateur and
professional level, so I can adapt any style and teach any style. I
teach professionals, I've helped Tommy Parks, and it's a matter of
putting it together. I learned a lot from other trainers, but I add in
some natural flavor too.
Not to be unkind, but
looking at your record, it seems odd that you lost your world title to
Jake Rodriguez. What happened?
Kenny Adams, the Olympic coach, told me a long time ago Charles; you
can't afford to have a bad day in boxing. And that was the absolute
truth. You can't afford to have a bad day. The day I lost my title, it
was a Friday the 13th. I got stuck in the elevator the day before on
my way down to the weigh-in. My food was late. Everything was off.
Fighters believe in superstitions and I knew it wasn't going to be my
day.
Who do you idolize as a
trainer?
Tommy Parks is the man. Sometimes he comes across as mean, but you
have to know he wants the best for you. He's a father figure. He's
straight to the point. He does it very, very well. He's not too hard
and not too soft. He knows when to lighten up and when to be smart.
I'm glad he's in my life. I have a lot of good people in my life. My
manager Nick Garone is an excellent manager. Nick genuinely cares and
has learned the game pretty well. He's young, but he learned a lot
from Tommy and other promoters and mangers and from a lot of different
fighters. He'll be one of the guys that people have to look out for in
the near future. His focus is to be there for you and after my career,
if I can help Nick any way, I will help him. I will be there.
Would you ever want to
become a professional trainer?
I enjoy training kids, but I don't know if I'd want to do it on a
professional level. I get a joy out of watching my young guys perform.
I really love the kids. On a professional level, I would keep it all
business, and that's it. It's hard working with professionals. |
