MARTIN Murray used to dread the last week of a title fight when the punishing ritual of shedding the pounds to reach the 160lb limit left him drained, depressed and skulking behind his hotel room "like Gollum”.

But the Fingerpost fighter’s move up to super-middleweight has taken that particular pressure off and on Saturday night in Hannover against champion Arthur Abraham he gets the chance to prove he is the lord of the ring at the fourth time of asking.

Murray strongly believes that fighting at his natural weight will have a "life changing" impact, having lost two and drawn one of his previous world title challenges at middleweight.

Speaking to the Star before flying out to Germany on Monday, the 33-year-old said his training camp had gone well and explained the significance of the weight factor.

Murray said: “My strength and conditioning has gone really well and the boxing, the sparring and the tactics with Oliver (Harrison) is all on point.

“This is the first time ahead of a major title fight I have not had to worry about my weight."

He explained it was not simply the punishing programme of dieting and extra work needed to get to the limit that was depressing him, but the draining effect that had on fight night.

He said: "You spend months bringing your body down to its absolute limit while doing all the training that you have to do, which, let me tell you, is brutal.

"But then in that last week, when you are on your absolute limit but you have to get extra weight off, you have to eat because you have got to do your training session.

"I could just see it all drain away from me and it was depressing me to be honest."

He said the build up to his war against Gennady Golovkin in February underlined that point.

"I was in Monte Carlo, one of the nicest, most luxurious places in the world, and yet I was behind closed doors 24/7.

"I would go downstairs to do a little session, jump in the sauna and then eat a couple of pieces of ham for some protein, and some salad.

"I'd be lying in bed with no energy but then have to get up and do another session," Murray said.

"Then it was back up, locked behind my hotel door, hiding away and not being able to face anybody like Gollum.

"I used to have to make 11st 6, as I got under 11st 12 I could feel it just weakening me.

"My agent Andy Mikhail used to see me when I was 12 st 3 in the gym and I would be strong, whacking the pads.

"Then after the fight he’d be saying 'how comes we don’t see you like that in the fight'.

"And the answer to that was that it was not there.

"My body was having all the nutrients taking out and there was no power left in my body.

"But now I am enjoying it a lot more and not getting depressed in camp.

"It was hard, but now I am feeling great, moving up in weight has changed my life."