John Murray stopped by Rios

Manchester tough man John Murray's attempt to win the vacant WBA lightweight title failed after he was stopped in the eleventh round by former champion Brandon Rios in New York last night.

Rios was stripped before the contest because he failed to make the weight.

Despite reportedly eating nothing in the few days before Friday's weigh in, he was still too strong for Murray who put up a decent challenge in the first half of the contest.

Murray was cut in the sixth and things turned against him, though he rallied in the ninth. By the time the Englishman was rescued at 2:06 of the eleventh, Rios was teeing off on him and had got through with several hard looking head shots.

So, reports of Rios' demise were overstated though it seems inevitable that the American will have to change his preparations or move up in weight.

After going 31 fights unbeaten, Murray has now suffered two brutal back-to-back defeats against class acts in Rios and Kevin Mitchell. He's earned a bit of time out and could do with a couple of slightly easier assignments to get back on track.