ST HELENS middleweight Martin Murray has vowed to make it third time lucky when he fights Australia's Jarrod Fletcher for the soon to be vacant WBA title at Salle des Etoiles, Monte Carlo on February 1.

And after enduring a frustrating eight months since controversially losing on points to Argentina’s WBC champion Sergio Martinez in April, Murray is delighted to get another crack and told those assembled at the Langtree Park press conference that he “won’t be coming back without the belt”.

Having already drawn with Felix Sturm in Germany in December 2011 and controversially beaten by Sergio Martinez in April, Murray now has a third chance to fulfil his ambition of winning a world title.

And although Fletcher is ranked below him on the pecking order, he as stormed through his last five fights Down Under, so the 31-year-old from Fingerpost will not be taking this fight lightly.

The belt has become available due to current holder Gennady Golovkin being elevated to the super WBA category and he will be fighting Osumanu Adama on the same bill on Golden Gloves' Night of Champions.

Murray said: “Jarrod Fletcher is a good kid. I have not seen that much of him, but we are going to get working on that now.

“He has got pedigree and he beat James de Gale at amateur level which isn’t easy and proves that he is a good fighter.

“He is going to be up for it, but I will imagine I’ll be the favourite going into it and rightly so given who I have fought and how I have done.

“I just want to let everyone know that there is no way I am coming back from Monte Carlo without a world title. I am coming back to St Helens with the belt.”

Murray finally got back into the ring last Saturday after an agonisingly long wait, but ring-rust and the effects of a bad virus that needed two shots of anti-biotics saw him produce a flat performance in beating Sergey Khomitsky on points.

Murray is, however, just looking ahead now, hoping to use his disappointments as motivation.

“Fighting in April and on such a massive show and then everything that has happened since has been frustrating. The performance on Saturday did not reflect me or my team whatsoever, it was very flat, but the most important thing was getting the win.

“That is all that done now and now I am going to carry straight on now to February 1. There are a lot of frustrations going into camp, but is all going to be put into a positive for this fight preparation.

“The most important thing for me is to become world champion and having been so close twice before and there is no way that that belt is not coming back with me,” he said.

Tickets, starting at 150 euros, are on sale at the Saints ticket office.

Promoters Hattons initially asked for a bundle of 150 tickets, but now they have doubled that request.