PLENTY hinges on Martin Murray’s world title eliminator against George Groves on Saturday night – and if the war of words is anything to go by it promises to be a cracker.

The clash for the WBA International Super-Middleweight belt, which acts as a world title eliminator, is the highest profile domestic fight Murray has had.

Victory at London’s O2 will see a big door opening for the 33-year-old from Fingerpost, with a face-off with WBA world champion Giovanni De Carolis, defeat would see it slam shut.

Murray has had four cracks at taking a world crown and, apart from Gennady Golvkin, he has been desperately unlucky in four of those against Sergio Martinez and Felix Sturm at middleweight and Arthur Abraham at 168lbs for the WBO World Super-Middleweight crown.

His opponent Groves has lost three world title scraps – twice to Carl Froch and most recently against Badou Jack in Las Vegas for the WBC belt.

Although Groves has a much higher profile, on the back of those big Wembley dates with Froch, Murray reckons his own record at the top level is better and dismisses the Hammersmith man’s buck-passing when he loses.

Murray said: “I’ve been in bigger fights than him all over the world against better opposition.

“The fact that his name comes first means nothing to me – I’m a 33-year-old grown man, how’s that going to bother me?”

In a televised encounter, Murray showed himself adept at defusing the barbs of the prickly Groves who can have the ability to get under the skin of the opposition.

Groves certainly wound up Froch ahead of their first meeting — and put him down before losing that one and the re-match.

Murray could not be accused of giving the higher profile man too much respect.

He said: “He got his name by losing twice to Carl Froch and that’s how he’s the a-side.

“If I’m not established enough as a World class fighter as it stands now, I’m going to get it when I beat George, even though I’ve been in the bigger and tougher fights than him, that’s the way it is.

“He thinks that the 80,000 tickets at Wembley were down to him, nothing to do with Carl.

“I don’t think he should have left Adam Booth.

“He finds it easy to pass the blame.

“He blamed the referee after the first Froch fight, he blamed a ‘punch from the gods’ for the second fight and blamed Paddy Fitzpatrick for the Jack loss.

“After Badou Jack I heard he was talking about retiring.

“He’s come back and had two fights where he’s been firing at sitting ducks where there’s been nothing coming back at him, so he’s got his confidence back now, and that makes now he thinks that this is an easy fight; but it’s not, and when it gets tough he will crumble.

“I want him to keep thinking that it’s easy, because he’ll find out on Saturday how wrong he is and I can’t wait to prove it.”

Murray fights on a huge card featuring Anthony Joshua MBE.