Arthur vows to fight on with 'plenty in tank' despite higher weight defeat

Published on Sunday 6 December 2009 23:27

IT APPEARED at around 6.45 on Saturday evening that Alex Arthur had decided to bring down the curtain on his illustrious ring career.

Arthur's initial reaction to his surprise defeat by Nigel Wright at Newcastle's Metro Arena was one of pained recognition that it was perhaps time to quit and move on to a fresh phase in his life.

With his tearful wife, Debbie clutching his hand and looking concerned, the 31-year-old former world champion from Edinburgh began analysing where it had all gone so terribly wrong.

He had, after all, been fully expected to deal effectively with his opponent from nearby Crook in his first contest at light-welterweight. But the Arthur seen on Saturday night was only a shadow of the one who aspired to the status of WBO super-featherweight champion.

The sparkle was clearly missing. The speed and power that had proved too great for 27 of his previous 29 opponents was no longer evident. Put simply, Arthur did not look quite right.

The fact that he did not dispute the validity of referee Victor Loughlin's points scoring – 78 to 76 in favour of Wright – other than to suggest that the margin may have been closer, also hinted that perhaps some of his desire had gone.

There was no attempt either to blame a sixth round head-butt which opened up a nasty gash at the side of his left eye for his failure to prosper and keep alive his dream to win world titles at three different weights.

But perhaps the most telling comment was the one concerning his inability to re-ignite the spark which was also absent when he relinquished his world crown to Nicky Cook in Manchester 16 months ago.

"I felt so sluggish," confessed Arthur. "The gear that I used to have is not there any more. I am going to have a good think about my future."

Arthur did not deliberate for long. By yesterday lunchtime, the irrepressible Arthur, back in the bosom of his family, had decided to carry on, albeit with a proviso that he forget about pursuing any ambitions at light-welterweight, for the time being at least.

"I will definitely fight again because it would be wrong to go out on a loss after the career I have had," he said. "But I won't be fighting again at light-welterweight, at least not in the foreseeable future.

"I believe two factors contributed to my defeat, the fact that I was too heavy plus my lack of ring activity over the past 16 months. I have had only 94 seconds of competitive boxing, at lightweight, since I lost my title, and I lacked my usual speed and power.

"But I believe there is still plenty left in the tank and I just hope this loss to Wright doesn't affect my No3 lightweight ranking with the WBO."

While the first thought of many in the immediate aftermath of this defeat was that Arthur would be wise to call it a day, on reflection he may owe himself one more chance to live the dream.

He has, after all, given many fight fans much pleasure over the past decade, not least with his wonderful ability to produce a headline. Besides, it is wrong to kick a man when he's down, not that Alex Arthur ever remains down for very long.