ST HELENS middleweight Martin Murray marked his return to the boxing ring with points win late against Portuguese replacement Rui Manuel Pavanito at Liverpool’s Olympia on Friday.

The 36-year-old had talked about hanging up his gloves in December after losing the decision against Hassan N’Dam at Manchester Arena.

But a change of heart saw the four-time world title challenger return to the gym – and he blasted off the ring-rust with a commanding display.

With the pressure from chasing the world title now gone, the experienced boxer looks like a man with his love of the fight-game rekindled.

And he let his body shots do the talking against a game Pavanito.

In the latter rounds it looked like Murray was going to stop his opponent – and had it been a 12-rounder, probably would have.

But he had done enough on the scorecard to win by a margin of 99 points to 92.