MARTIN Murray is aiming to put all the frustrations of the past year behind him when he takes on durable Mexican Roberto Garcia for the silver WBC middleweight belt at London's O2 Arena.

And he knows a good performance on Saturday will see him fly up the WBC pecking order and give another shot at the world title.

The 35-year-old from Fingerpost should have been challenging for the world title this weekend, but champion Billy Joe Saunders pulled the plug on that after withdrawing with injury for a second time.

In his pursuit of the world crown Murray could be forgiven for feeling like Sisyphus from Greek mythology, laboriously rolling the stone to the top of the hill only for it to roll down as it nears the summit.

But the cry offs, combined with previous 'failures' - a controversial loss in Argentina, a draw in Germany and a split decision defeat, among his four previous challenges - have done nothing to quell his desire to start again and roll the stone back to the top.

After a gruelling training camp away in Tenerife, Murray is now ready for war against a tough opponent who has got used to winning.

And for all the disappointment in the build up, the St Helens man is aiming to be focused and clinical with a view to securing that fifth title crack.

An upbeat and determined Murray said: "It has been a headache but I am just happy that I have got a fight and a meaningful one at that.

"It has been tough. There have been good times – the two camps in Tenerife and gave me memories for life.

"But in doing those I also lost time with my family that I won't get back.

"It has been one long consistent training camp.

"And it has been headache, with sorting tickets and all that, to be honest I am just really looking forward to Saturday, just getting into the ring and getting the job done and then I am going to switch off for a couple of weeks and enjoy some time with my family and friends."

Murray's WBO title challenge was postponed in April when the champion pulled out with a hand injury, and then cancelled this time when the Hatfield man cited a hamstring concern.

It initially sparked a war of words, but now Murray is determined to put his training to good use after eight months of inactivity.

He is braced for a tough fight against Garcia, who boasts a record of 41 wins from 44 paid bouts and who last tasted defeat against Antonio Margarito eight years ago.

Murray sees similarities in the man he has to beat convincingly to move his career forward.

"It is going to be tough, it is not one where you look at the match up and think it is going to be an easy fight.

"Garcia knows that they are expecting a lot from him, so it is a meaningful fight so I am grateful for that.

"Garcia has been around a long time – the last time he got beat was 2010 against Margarito, so he he is coming off a 13-fight winning streak.

"He is a bit older than me and has had more fights, across a longer career span, although he has not been as active as me.

"He is hungry too, and could tell that by the way he was talking at the press conference earlier this week.

"The way he talks pretty much relates similar to me – a B-side fighter all of his life, fighting for his family. I get everything he was saying, I really did.

"But it is about levels and I truly believe that I am a level above him.

"I am expecting him to give it his all and am expecting a tough night, but I am confident that I am going to win," Murray said.

Murray has not fought for a world title since his controversial split decision defeat at Super Middleweight against Arthur Abraham in 2015, and has had to find his way back in the 160lb division.

The idea that his career is now meandering to a close could not be further from his mind as he retains that burning ambition to become the town's first boxing world champion.

But for him to carry on making steps for that challenge to happen, Murray knows he needs to produce something on Saturday.

"I need to make a statement. He has only been beaten three times in his career, but never been stopped so he is tough.

"I want to be going out there making a statement and stopping him, it is as simple as that.

"I don’t want a lacklustre performance and end up in a difficult fight.

"I want to go out and win in style, so want to be getting him out of there," he said.

He believes a good win will put him back in a good position and shoot his name back up the order of contenders.

"It has been a long road back, with only fighting twice this past year, so to be back up there and highly ranked and close to a title shot keeps things going forward.

"I have been messed around a lot, but so to has Frank Warren. It has been a headache for him too.

"I have not worked for Frank long but he says he likes the way I go about business and he is really going to try and push me towards a mandatory position.

"There will be options after this – so I am excited about Saturday, I need to put in a good performance and see where my career is after that.

"I have to stay clinical, work on the things I have been working on in the short space of time and put in a good performance," Murray said.