Martin Murray should postpone retirement and launch another world title campaign as a middleweight, says Glenn McCrory.
I definitely don't think Martin Murray should retire now. He pushed George Groves hard and that was the best that Groves has been. Groves is improving under Shane McGuigan, knows what he's doing and is fighting to a plan. That comes with more experience in the corner.
Murray was always going to have to take punches because if he'd committed himself early, he would have been stopped. He knows how to cover up, get through it and then push Groves down the stretch. The plan set out by Oliver Harrison was the right one - the only problem was that, for me, he simply wasn't big enough.
You've got to look at the level Groves fought at beforehand. He'd only ever lost to a world champion in Badou Jack and a world champion in Carl Froch and he's even better than that now. With that in mind, I wouldn't worry about Murray at all because he was still strong, pushing forward and trying to take the fight on.
Oliver Harrison has done a great job with Murray over the years and nothing has really been amiss. He's put in some fantastic efforts. When he lost to Gennady Golovkin he was in with a terrific fighter, he could have won against Sergio Martinez in Argentina, he could have beaten Felix Sturm. He's just not had that little bit of luck.
Boxing is all about timing and being in the right place at the right time. So far, that's the one thing that Martin has got wrong. He's fought the wrong opponents at the wrong time.
Now, Murray has got all that experience against all those great opponents and the fights can open up now. They're there.
Personally, I'd like to see Chris Eubank Jr fight Martin before he takes on Golovkin. I know Murray said when he moved up to super-middleweight that it was where he should have been naturally, but fighters are always going to tell themselves that to convince themselves they're doing the right thing.
It's true that he was moving up because he lost three times at middleweight. When he was a middleweight before that, he was saying he made the weight fine. I know he failed the weight at super-middleweight ahead of the Groves fight, but it wasn't by much and they were trying to get it spot on as they knew Groves would be big.
I think getting back down to middleweight would be fine and it's more about whether he still possesses the fight and desire. That's what it's all about for him - he can grind it out but it's whether he can be bothered any more. He's had a long career but he was still pushing forward against Groves.
I'd also love to see him get in with Billy Joe Saunders. That and the Eubank Jr fight are both great domestic clashes.
For me, Martin can still win a world title. He's been in gruelling fights because he's always pressurising, but I think he's still got lots left and he has a good defence. He's not someone who's getting bashed around. I don't think that's a problem - I think he's still fresh enough physically. It's about how he feels about it inside.
Murray can go straight into a big fight. He knows how to make weight and he can go straight into something. For me, Eubank Jr is the one to go for but it seems everybody wants that Golovkin pay day as soon as possible. I think Eubank Jr needs another eight months and if he got a good win over Murray - which I doubt he would - then people would say he has a real chance against Golovkin.
Saunders would be a fabulous fight and I'm sure Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren could do that. They're the sort of fights we want. Let's hope Murray hasn't set his stall out at super-middleweight because against Groves, they looked two different weight divisions. Groves will have put on lots between the weigh-in and the fight because that's what he's got to do, whereas it's not quite so natural for Murray to do so.
Murray doesn't need to prove anything to anybody. He's a world-class fighter and doesn't need a domestic fight or a warm-up. I think he just needs to get in against the best possible middleweight as soon as possible and hopefully that means a clash with Billy Joe Saunders or Chris Eubank Jr.
Perseverance in life is so important. Often, you give in when you're just 10 yards from that final goal. I would love to see Murray get there and I definitely think he can still win a world title.