CRISIS AVERTED
Lyndon gets the job done against late substitute, writes Daniel Etchells
IT WASN’T the fight Lyndon Arthur wanted nor prepared for, but he ultimately got the job done to remain firmly in the mix in a thriving lightheavyweight division. A late change of opponent following a failed pre-fight medical for Argentina’s Braian Nahuel Suarez denied Arthur a chance to claim the vacant IBO bauble at the University of Bolton Stadium.
But the 31-year-old overcame that setback to see off a tricky replacement in the shape of former sparring partner
Boris Crighton, winning by unanimous decision atop the Wasserman Boxing card.
Crighton, a two-time GB amateur champion from Aberdeen who usually competes at super-middleweight, was called up at a day’s notice and performed admirably on the night.
The “Blade” landed a big right hand in the third round as Arthur struggled to find his rhythm in the early exchanges. Rounds four to eight were extremely cagey with Arthur still unable to take full initiative and Crighton subsequently growing in belief he could pull off an upset.
But a big right hand in the ninth marked Arthur’s best moment of the fight up until that point, clearly hurting his opponent who was hindered by a cut beneath his left eye.
The pressure continued on Crighton in the final round and he was floored seconds before the final bell, which had sounded well before referee Howard Foster had finished his count.
It added extra gloss to the judges’ scorecards as Arthur, who is now expected to fight again in May, prevailed 98-92, 96-93, 99-91.
Prior to the main event, Wigan’s
James Moorcroft secured an English welterweight title shot after defeating Liverpool’s Nathan Bennett by knockout in the second of their scheduled 10-round final eliminator.
Bennett beat Darren Sarginson’s count having been dropped by a right uppercut-left hook combination, but the referee stopped the fight with 2-25 gone.
In arguably the fight of the evening, Beswick’s Kane Gardner came through a superb eight-round scrap with Wolverhampton’s Conah Walker to make it four consecutive victories and move into title contention.
Walker was firmly on the front foot early on, but Gardner weathered the storm and cleverly managed the contest thereafter on his way to winning 78-76 for Mr Sarginson.
A number of fighters extended perfect records on the night, including Kazakhstan’s Sultan Zaurbek and Denmark’s Oliver Zaren.
Zaurbek earned a 10th knockout win of his career to move to 14-0, sealing victory over Argentina’s Reuquen Cona
Facundo Arce with a stinging body shot in an eight-rounder. Arce beat Mr Sarginson’s count, but the contest was rightly waved off after 1-44 of round five.
Another international star, Zaren, marked his UK debut with an assured 40-36 win over Croatia’s Frane Radnic for Mr Foster.
The highly-rated middleweight southpaw, trained by the legendary Mikkel Kessler, was dominant from start to finish and now has eight victories to his name.
Also making his UK debut was German middleweight Denis Radovan, who beat France’s Fouad El Massoudi by technical decision in an eight-rounder.
An accidental clash of heads caused a nasty cut to El Massoudi’s left eye, and Mr Sarginson called the fight off on the advice of the ringside doctor after 1-45 of round five.
Among the local fighters preserving unblemished records was Stockport’s
Niall Brown, scoring a heavy knockdown in the third of six rounds on his way to beating Manchester-based Iranian Bahadur Karami. Brown had to dig deep in an entertaining encounter, but he was well worthy of Mr Foster’s 59-55 decision to move to 8-0.
Mr Foster also officiated as Salford’s
Alex Murphy and Manchester’s Bobby Faulkner both claimed shutout wins in four-rounders.
Murphy beat Manchester’s Liam Fox to move to 7-0, while Faulkner defeated Bulgaria’s Georgi Velichkov to move to 5-0.
The last fight of the evening saw formidable flyweight Chloe Watson move to 5-0 with a points win over Argentina’s Romina Gisel Sosa.
Watson, from Birkenhead and trained by Ricky Hatton, always looked in control as she took a 39-37 victory on Mr Foster’s scorecard.
In the other women’s bout, Norway’s
Katharina Thanderz made it three wins on the bounce since losing to Terri Harper for a super-featherweight belt in November 2020.
Now competing at lightweight, Thanderz knocked down previously unbeaten Romanian Ioana Fecioru in the first round en route to edging a gruelling contest 77-75 on Mr Sarginson’s scorecard.
There was also a professional debut win for Manchester’s Ashley Marron, who had his hand raised by Mr Sarginson at the end of the first of four scheduled rounds due to a cut to opponent Daryl
Pearce of Birmingham.
THE VERDICT Arthur doesn’t let late change of opponent faze him.