HE may not have returned home with a world title belt around his waist – but Martin Murray’s stock in the sporting world has soared after his warrior-like display against Gennady Golovkin in Monte Carlo on Saturday night.

Murray, from Fingerpost, was already a St Helens hero before going into the ring with the Kazakhstan boxer, regarded as one of the most ferocious punchers in the world.

But the courage he showed to get through to the 11th round – the furthest any opponent has taken Golovkin – means his status has gone to another level.

After swiftly being saluted as a true warrior from St Helens in the early hours of Sunday, legends from boxing and stars of others sports – all with huge followings – turned to Twitter to salute Murray, 32.

Some of those names included Manchester United and England football captain Wayne Rooney, former American boxer Roy Jones jnr, British fighter Amir Khan and Dana White, president of mixed martial arts organisation UFC. He also earned plaudits from many of boxing’s big-hitting sports writers.

Andrew Mikhail, Murray’s business manager, said the interest in Murray, who has now lost two and drawn one of three world title attempts, had gone off the scale.

He told the Star: “I’ve had all the big boxing agents across the world contacting me. They are saying Golovkin is number one middlewight in the world but Martin is number two.

“The interest in him is higher than it has ever been – people from all over the world are trying to sign him.
Mikhail, owner of energy firm Solarking, added: “It was a performance of tremendous courage; he is a warrior. He was disappointed not to have gone all 12 rounds and is too brave for his own good.
"We are all so proud of him.”

On Sunday Golovkin, who some pundits say is the most fearsome boxer since Mike Tyson, met with Murray for a drink, where the world champion conceded the St Helens lad had been his toughest opponent to date.

For father-of-three Murray, who spent six weeks away on a training camp in South Africa prior to the bout, it is now time to spend time with his family.

After landing at the airport to be greeted by his children on Monday, he tweeted: “Still don’t know what it feels like to get a World Title, but I know it won’t feel as good as this!”