ST HELENS fighter Martin Murray will tackle George Groves in an eliminator for the Super Middleweight WBA crown.

The huge bout will be on the undercard for Anthony Joshua MBE's first defence of his IBF World Heavyweight title against unbeaten American Dominic ‘Trouble’ Breazeale at The O2 in London on June 25.

Murray, who has a bout against a yet to be announced opponent on May 7 at Manchester first, has been looking for this high-profile fight against the Londoner.

A win will be a springboard for a world title shot in the second half of the year.

That would be a fourth in the division for Groves and a second at 168lbs for Murray, who has also boxed three times for a world crown at Middleweight.

The Fingerpost fighter said: "This is a fight I've wanted for a while and I'm delighted it's made.

"I've had some huge profile fights all over the world in Golovkin, Martinez and Abraham but never had the big one in the UK. This is a fight that British fight fans can really get their teeth into and I'm looking forward to getting the win and moving on to challenging for the World title later in the year.”

That anticipation was matched by his durable opponent.

The Londoner said: “I'm very excited to be defending my WBA international belt against Martin Murray back at the O2.

“I've had two great performances this year, both in London and the latest one back at The O2. It's always a happy hunting ground for me.

''Martin is the perfect fight for me at this stage. He's a seasoned campaigner, who's boxed at the highest level for quite some time. He is a world level opponent and I'll have to be fully focused and prepared to beat him.

''A win against Murray on the biggest stage, will open a lot of doors and bring me a step closer to achieving my goal of becoming world champion. I'm fully expecting it to be a war, I can't wait.''

Promoter Eddie Hearn added: "June 25 is going to be a huge night from start to finish. It's great that Britain's newest super star is staying active, many would have still been celebrating but its back to business for AJ. The fight with Breazeale is going to be explosive- he is 6"7 and is one of the few whose KO ratio is up there with Anthony's. He has come through the similar elite amateur set up and has worked his way into this shot and is ready to go.

“We are looking to put on one of our strongest cards yet at The O2, topped by the huge domestic clash between George Groves and Martin Murray which is set to be a wonderful clash. Watch this space for some more big fights added soon."

Tickets go on sale today (April 25) at 10am to Matchroom Fight Pass members from the Fight Pass area at www.matchroomboxing.com and O2 Priority members at www.theO2.co.uk. Tuesday April 26 at 10am sees the venue and AXS pre-sale before tickets go on general sale at 10am on Wednesday April 27.

Tickets priced between £40 to £500 will be available from www.theO2.co.uk and on 0844 856 0202. VIP tickets are £1,000 and available exclusively from Matchroom Boxing www.matchroomboxing.com.

Face value tickets for June 25 will also be available from http://www.stubhub.co.uk/matchroom-boxing-tickets/ from 10am on April 27. StubHub is the official ticket partner and marketplace of Matchroom Boxing and Anthony Joshua.