MARTIN MURRAY insists he holds no fear of going into the lion’s den against Sergio Martinez this spring.

The unbeaten St Helens man will face the planet’s best middleweight in front of almost 50,000 fans at the Estadio José Amalfitani in Buenos Aires, Argentina on April 27.

And he knows few will be cheering him on.

“It’s not daunting me at all. The crowd is going to be very hostile but I’m always in the zone when I enter the ring so it makes no difference what people are doing around me,” he said.

“I’ll just be focused on going in there and doing my job.

“Naturally they’ll be some nerves before the fight, but that’s a good thing. I always feel some nerves, I like them and I perform off of them.”

Murray believes his previous performances in the spotlight have prepared him perfectly for fighting in front of such a large audience.

In late 2011 he travelled to Germany and held then WBA champion Felix Sturm to a draw and last November he impressed in front of a bumper crowd when halting Jorge Navarro on the undercard of Ricky Hatton’s massive return to the ring.

“Those fights have been good preparation for me,” the 30-year-old said. “Having that one in Germany and then boxing at the MEN Arena showed I can perform in front of a big audience.

“If I’d have just been boxing in leisure centres, going into a big stadium could make me like a rabbit in headlights, but I know I always perform well on the big stage.”

He added: “Martinez is easily the best middleweight in the world so obviously I’ll need to raise my game to beat him but myself and my team know that’s something we’re very capable of doing.”