JOE Murray heads into the professional ranks with his head held high - and with some harsh words for the amateur game.

The 21-year-old is now planning to make his paid debut before Christmas and possibly on the undercard of his brother John's first British title defence at Manchester Central on December 13.

Murray represented his country at the Olympic Games, and won a World Championship bronze medal, but quit in disgust after being eliminated in the first round of the European Championships in Liverpool on Sunday.

Foul

The Levenshulme lad and his coach Joe Gallagher cried foul after the judges scored it 16-3 to Irish champion David Oliver Joyce, who now faces the world's top amateur Vasyl Limachenko.

But Murray now wants to put his disappointments - he was knocked out of the Olympics in the first round by home fighter Yu Gu in the summer - behind him and build a successful pro career.

Murray will boil down to super-bantamweight, a division which is wide open in Britain.

Coach Gallagher is already in talks with three promoters, one of them US-based, over Murray's future.

And Murray already has his eyes set on emulating big brother John, who - despite not having the same amateur pedigree as Joe - has already won WBC youth and British lightweight titles as well as being named Young Boxer of the Year in 2006.

"I am now entirely focussed on turning pro," says Murray, intent on emulating one of his heroes, Ricky Hatton.

He is already treading in Hatton's bootsteps - the Hitman also quit the amateur game in disgust, after a shocking decision went against him in the 1997 World Junior Championships, when he also won a bronze.

And the Murray boys, along with Gallagher, have moved into Hatton's old gym in Denton, where they are working with top fitness and nutrition expert Kerry Kayes, who got the Hyde ace into world title shape.

Storm

Now Murray believes he and John can take British boxing, and then world boxing, by storm.

"I just hope people in Manchester follow me the way they did Ricky!" he says. "I have the speed, the power and sharpness to do well, and also have a massive heart.

"I am leaving the professional deals to Joe, who I have been with since I was 13 and who I trust completely, but it would be great to make my debut on John's undercard at G-Mex.

"That has always been a big thing for me.

"We fought on the same bill in John's last amateur fight, and both won.

"I can see it now - one day John fighting for a world title, and me fighting for the British on the undercard."

But the wrangling over Murray's exit from the championships goes on, with the Manchester man still clearly upset.

"The judges registered one punch landing from me in the whole fight, and yet Joyce was on the canvas in the first round and ended up with a cut on his nose," he says. "I can hold my head high, because I feel I boxed well. The monkey is off my back after Beijing, and I feel I can leave the amateurs proud of what I achieved."

Promise

Gallagher was even more scathing: "The European Championships are like the Eurovision Song Contest - no wonder British fighters have won so few titles, because it's all about politics.

"I used to be an amateur boxing judge, and I was totally baffled by the scoring.

"We are also disappointed in the Amateur Boxing Association - we were told after the Olympics that they wanted us to stay on for London 2012, and there were promises of funding and sponsors.

"But the first thing they did was cut Joe's funding because they said he hadn't performed in Beijing. The sponsors have not materialised, and Joe was fined for not turning up at a training camp, though he had good reason and was the only member of the Olympics team to appear in the Europeans."

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