Thread: Authur Alex fights on the 29th April

Alex Arthur will return to the ring on Saturday 29th April at Edinburgh's Meadowbank Stadium to defend his British, Commonwealth and European super featherweight titles.

The Edinburgh hotshot, ranked inside the top ten by the WBO, WBC and IBF, continues his march towards a world title opportunity planned for later this year and awaits confirmation of the challenger for his titles.

Arthur, 27, ground out a points victory over tough Coatbridge boxer Ricky Burns last month with a controlled performance to bring his record to a sparkling 22 wins, only one loss, and 17 KO's.

Arthur said, "I'm delighted to be back in the ring so soon after my win over Ricky and the main aim for me this year is to keep busy with four or five fights hopefully culminating in a world title fight,"

"I was out of the ring since July when I won the European title against Boris Sinitsin, Ricky is a tough kid but I felt great in there and new that my experience and stamina would be the telling factor,"

"Wayne McCullough will be in my corner again after we had a successful first fight working together against Ricky and I believe our partnership can only get stronger fight by fight,"

After his victory over Burns, Arthur went to Manchester to watch Joe Calzaghe's now legendary fight against Jeff Lacy and hopes the Welshman will be ringside for his Meadowbank scrap.

He added, "I was mesmerized by Joe's performance against Lacy, that to me was the best performance I have seen anywhere,"

"I've always said he was the best fighter in Britain and now he's proved it and he is definitely now in the top-ten pound-for-pound best in the world,"

"Joe's a big inspiration to me and it was an honour to fight on the same card as him when he defended his title at the Royal Highland Showground and said to him then that he would beat Lacy if they ever met,"

"I would love for him to be ringside and I know that him being there would bring something extra out of me."

Chief support on the show features Manchester's Andy Morris making the first defence of his British Featherweight title against Nottingham's Rendall Munroe. They were due to meet on the Calzaghe-Lacy undercard but Morris withdrew from the fight due to a hand injury.

Rising Edinburgh star Gary Young, Glasgow's Willie Limond, Aberdeen's Lee McAllister, Edinburgh's Craig Lynch and Arbroath's James Ancilffe complete the show.

sorry i don't mean to be a ass, but when you post an article you have to put the refference (the web page) from where you got it from.....I did it before with my article and it got taken down by the Boss.
Just watchin out for ya

CC for that The_one77 I didn't know sorry!! will know now though cheers hun!

Just edit it and put the link to FW's site and 'by Iain Axon' at the top.

And its Alex Arthur............. sorry!

Alex Arthur will defend his Commonwealth super featherweight title against Ghana's George Ashie at Meadowbank Stadium on 29 April.
But the Scot has poured cold water on the prospect of a clash with compatriot Scott Harrison in the near future.

"It's the fight all the country wants, but I'm sick of fighting Scottish boxers," said Arthur.

"I'm completely sure that Scott Harrison has not got any interest in me whatsoever at this point."

Arthur, who also holds the European and British titles, had already announced the date and venue of his Commonwealth defence and speculation had arisen while the name of his opponent was awaited.

He has already claimed the scalps of Glaswegians Craig Docherty and Willie Limond, as well as Coatbridge's Ricky Burns, and many wish to see a meeting with his former sparring partner.

But Harrison will defend his WBO featherweight title against Joan Guzman on 20 May in Belfast.

"He's looking to fry these big fish like Joan Guzman and Marco Antonio Barrera," said Arthur.

"He's been a major player at world level now for two or three years and I'm not quite there yet.

"I've got that world title goal. That's my most important thing and so I've got no interest in Scott Harrison at this time in my career.

"I've got a lot of interest in winning the world title and then after that you never know what will happen."

Ashie is only ranked 530th in the world but has won nine of his 10 professional fights, six by a knock-out, and lost one.

Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/spo...ng/4835616.stm

Published: 2006/03/23 00:48:38 GMT

© BBC MMVI


530th in the world..............shit,I would fight the guy!

Arthur set for Gulyakevich test
Promoter Frank Warren says facing Sergey Gulyakevich will prime Alex Arthur for a world title shot.
He was due to fight Ghana's George Ashie on 29 April, but now faces the Belarussian's mandatory challenge for his European super featherweight crown.

Warren said: "I want Alex to fight for a world title before the end of 2006, and going in with Gulyakevich will give him the kind of experience he needs."

Gulyakevich has an 18-0 record, with the last four wins coming through KOs.

Along the way he has picked up Belarus' super-featherweight title and the WBA intercontinental lightweight belt.

The latter came with a second-round win over former European super featherweight champion Tontcho Tontchev.(recognise that name? )

Warren added: "Gulyakevich is as dangerous as they come, but I expect Alex to have a little bit too much for him."

Arthur, 27, who has a 22-1 record, won the title against Boris Sinitsin and made a successful first defence against fellow Scot Ricky Burns in February.

Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/spo...ng/4918284.stm

Published: 2006/04/18 09:46:58 GMT



Now that is a FAR better opponent!

Yep the Ashie fight was a joke. This looks a real good match up and judging Gulyakevich by the Tontchev form he is clearly dangerous.

Mark Harnell


Alex Arthur says a lack of experience could prove the undoing of Sergey Gulyakevich when the pair meet for the European super-featherweight title on April 29.

And champion Arthur also shrugged off the fact that the undefeated Belarusian has come in at short notice, replacing a much more straightforward Commonwealth title defence against George Ashie.

"He's obviously ambitious and he?ll be coming to try and take the title away from me," said Arthur. "And looking at his record, you can tell he can punch because he's won his last four fights by knockout.

But the fact that I've been a championship fighter for so long now could be the big difference.

"I've just done 12 hard rounds with Ricky Burns and hardly took a day out of the gym following the fight, while Gulyakevich has been having these one and two round blowouts.

"He's a come forward fighter so I won't have to go looking for him, and we'll see how good his conditioning is when I fire in the body shots."

The pair duke it out at the Meadowbank Arena, Edinburgh next Saturday night, and Arthur knows he has to beat the Eastern European to maintain his push for a world title opportunity.

And he'll have to do so without the help of Wayne McCullough, who was a welcome addition to Arthur's corner the night he beat Burns.

McCullough is preparing for a world title fight against WBC super-bantamweight champion Israel Vasquez later this year, and will be absent at the Meadowbank.

Arthur is used to such disruptions though, having had a string of high-profile corner-men since turning professional.

However one constant has been under-rated Owen Smith, and he will be joined by American Brian Clemens, who was also present when Arthur out-pointed Burns.

"Brian will be there and he is very, very experienced, and Owen knows me inside out, so it won?t be a problem," said Arthur.

The Scot was straight back in the gym following his win over Burns " against whom he has been sparring - in February, and can also draw on a three-week Las Vegas training camp he undertook with McCullough straight after Christmas.

"I'm in great shape and haven't had to worry about the weight or anything like that," said Arthur. "I've been able to concentrate on sparring and getting ready for this fight."

Until now his preparations haven't included watching footage of Gulyakevich on video, but Arthur is now in possession of tape of his opponent.

"I'll be sitting down and watching it over the next couple of days and letting my corner see it as well," said Arthur. "But I'm not a great one for analysing videos, and I don't think it will throw up anything I'm not expecting."

Mark Harnell

Phillipe Fondu may be famed for supplying losers to the ?opposition? corners of Britain?s top promoters, but in Sergey Gulyakevich he is confident he has found a man to buck the trend.

The undefeated Belarusian tackles Alex Arthur at the Meadowbank Arena, Edinburgh, next Saturday night in a challenge for the Scotsman?s European super-featherweight title.

Much has been made of the fact that Fondu has supplied more than half a dozen opponents to fight Arthur in the past ? and none of them have been successful.

The latest man to full victim to the 27-year-old was Boris Sinitsin, who was beaten convincingly on points in July and relieved of the European super-featherweight title that will be contested in the Scottish capital.

But despite the run of bad fortune, Fondu is no fool, and while he may never have got the better of Arthur, other Brits ? and other Sports Network stars ? have fallen foul of the wily former dentist.

It was Fondu who supplied Yuri Romanov to fight Steve Murray and Bobby Vanzie, and watched him romp to two KO wins.

And he is hoping he has another Romanov on his hands in Gulyakevich, who hails from the same former Soviet satellite.

?He is in great shape and he is coming to win,? said Fondu, who has seen Gulyakevich race to 18-0 since turning professional since 2003.

His confidence is shared by at least two governing bodies, as both the WBC and the WBA have Gulyakevich rated higher than Arthur despite his challenger status.

May be they have been swayed by two crushing KO wins he has scored in recent months over former European champion Tontcho Tonchev and usually durable Frederick Bonafai.

?If you want to see what Sergey can do take a look at the picture Boxing News published a few weeks ago of his win over Bonafai,? said Fondu. ?It was some knockout and won?t make for pretty viewing for Arthur.?

?And if you want to know what to expect then ask Tontcho Tonchev. Sergey is the only person to beat him as both an amateur and professional, and the way he stopped him was something else.

?He?s definitely a puncher, but he can adapt to the style of whoever he is fighting, and I?m confident he can beat Arthur.?

Dissapointing to hear that McCullogh won't be in AA's corner.

He needs to get continuity with a tight team.

Sounds like a good match up, hope Arthur dismantles this guy & then goes onwards & upwards.

fwtv are giving the tickets away for this fight if you subscribe to thier members section.

For what it's worth, I think Alex is a sound lad and I wish him well

Originally Posted by Steelie

fwtv are giving the tickets away for this fight if you subscribe to thier members section.

For what it's worth, I think Alex is a sound lad and I wish him well

I can't find that free ticket thing on the website!

Good News!

Iain Axon

Alex Arthur today received a huge boost ahead of his European super-featherweight title defence against Sergey Gulyakevich after learning he could be sanctioned for a shot at the IBF super-featherweight title.

Arthur, who also holds the Commonwealth belt, awoke to the news that the IBF's latest rankings list their super-featherweight crown as vacant.

Veteran Mexican Manuel Medina is the number one contender, while Arthur is the next highest ranked boxer at number three (the number two slot is currently vacant).

With boxing politics - along with the rules of sanctioning bodies - notoriously complex, Arthur is still some way from an automatic shot at the vacant title, and may be forced to box an eliminator.

Whether such a move will tie in with his current plans remains to be seen, but he will be confident of defeating Medina.

Now 35, Medina has mixed memories of Scotland, having snatched Scott Harrison's WBO featherweight crown with a split decision points win in July 2003.

However he was dropped a number of times en route to an 11th round stoppage in a rematch four months later.

Since then Medina, who beagn boxing as a teenager and turned professional at the age of 14 in 1985, has won three fights on the bounce and earned a top-spot ranking with the IBF.