Interview: Alex Arthur - 'Believe me, I am going to be a world champion again'

Published on Friday 23 July 2010 17:26

AS BEFITS a man of faith, Alex Arthur sets great store by the power of redemption. While his religious convictions give him strength, it is his unshakeable belief in his boxing talent which convinces him he will reclaim his status as Scotland's leading pugilist.

• Picture: Phil Wilkinson

It is just seven months since the obituaries of Arthur's career were being prepared in the aftermath of his insipid defeat to Nigel Wright in an eight-round undercard fight in Newcastle. Coming just over a year after he lost the WBO super-featherweight title to Nicky Cook in Manchester, it seemed to leave Arthur with nowhere meaningful left to go in the sport which has consumed his life since he first laced up a pair of gloves at the age of ten.

Yet Arthur is nothing if not utterly irrepressible. When we meet at his favourite coffee house near his home in Newington this week, there is a spark in his eyes and enthusiasm in his voice which instantly evokes memories of the precocious youngster who blazed a trail through the professional ranks after winning gold for Scotland at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

He celebrated his 32nd birthday last month but Arthur believes he is about to embark on a new phase of his career more glorious than anything which has gone before. "The time is right for me to come back," he said. "People in the business are going to be surprised by what they see, they will get a real shock. The future of Scottish boxing still lies with me.

"I think my best times are ahead of me, not behind me. My family and God will tell me when to retire but, feeling the way I do right now, I can see me carrying on for another five years without any bother. Look, I'm young in comparison to a lot of the top fighters. Floyd Mayweather is 33, while the world lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez is 37 next month and is in outstanding form.

"After the Nigel Wright fight, I initially thought everything had obviously caught up with me, all the hard years of training and making weight. I did consider packing it in. But I had a really good rest. Then in February this year I decided to pick up my training again and, all of a sudden, the weight started dropping like it used to. Within three weeks, I was working over all my sparring partners in the gym and I just felt unbelievable. I felt stupidly good."

As charismatic and articulate as he is, Arthur knows his words will be received with considerable scepticism by many within boxing. "Some of the stuff I've heard said about me, I'd be as well burying myself right now if I gave it any credibility," he added. "But you can't live like that. You need to be focused, have a goal and aim for it. Every arrow aimed at you from the outside has to be deflected off a shield you put up around your mind. It's important your mind is as strong as your body. Boxing makes demands of you that no other sport does. The real battlefield is in the mind, not in the gym or on the road.

"You need to know how to overcome those small voices and all of the negative vibes. I think a mixture of my faith and my brain training helps me to do that. I believe that setbacks are set-ups for comebacks. I don't believe that God doesn't finish what he started. If God puts a desire in your heart to do something, it doesn't just come from me. I've set out in my mind to win another world title and I believe I will succeed."

Arthur has rebounded from adversity before. After suffering the first defeat of his career, losing a British super-featherweight title defence to Michael Gomez in 2003, he re-assessed his lifestyle and re-affirmed what had become a wavering commitment to his religion. He had, he now says, committed the sin of pride. "That was all my own fault," reflects Arthur. "Listen, if I fought Michael 100 times, I would have beaten him 99 times. But I got it all wrong before that fight. I'd actually lost my way, if not completely lost my faith, at that time.

"I was never off Sky or out of the papers, I was being hailed as the big deal in boxing. I was earning really good money for a young guy from Dumbiedykes and going to my bank to see six figures come up on my account just used to make me laugh. The fame thing got to me, my head was blown off the radar. I really thought I was superboy. I was playing computer games on a plasma TV screen instead of going to training. I thought I just had to show up and bang Michael on the chin, like I'd done with everyone else.

"Then I was ill four days before the fight and had to lose half a stone on the day of the weigh-in. For me to think I could beat him in those circumstances was just an ego thing. It would have been a bad thing for me if I'd won that fight, actually. I needed to be knocked on my arse. If I'd won, I wouldn't have gone back to church and met my pastor."

Arthur successfully rebuilt his career, becoming British, Commonwealth, European and finally WBO super-featherweight champion in 2008. Within a few months of landing the world title, however, his life was turned upside down once more as he lost the belt to Cook in his first defence and then suffered the grievous loss of his pastor Peter Hadden.

"Peter wasn't just my pastor, he was my best mate," said Arthur. "Everything seemed to go wrong in my life around that time. It still hurts that he has gone, but I have come to terms with it now. My next world title will be for Peter."

Given the almost evangelical zeal with which Arthur can communicate his boxing ambitions, it is natural to wonder if he would ever consider following Hadden's path to become a pastor himself. "Peter used to tell me I would be a great preacher," he smiles. "Yes, I have thought about it. But it says in the Bible that man's heart plans his way but God directs his steps. So if it happens one day, it will be God pointing me in that direction.

"I've got up at the altar and spoken to several hundred people in church. I've done readings from the Bible and testimonies. It felt really natural. I can speak clearly enough, which shows I'm not punchy after all those fights. But it's a tough job being a pastor, 24-7 really. I'll stick to boxing for now."

Arthur has diversified recently, however, as he explores his thespian potential with a role in Revenge, a Scottish produced gangster movie due for release next year. He plays Shug, one of the heavies in a boxing gym who is improbably worked over by the female lead character. The trailer on YouTube may not suggest he is likely to rival Gerard Butler for major Hollywood roles any time soon, but Arthur undoubtedly has a natural connection with the camera. "My cousin Jamie Sives is a successful actor and got me into it," he said. "I casted for the part and, much to my surprise, got it. It was very different for me, being on a film set for eight hours a day, most of it sitting around waiting to do my take. I'm used to going into the gym, exploding into action for two hours, then going home. I enjoyed it though and it's definitely something I will think about doing a lot more in the future."

For now, the future remains inside a ring, hopefully at the Kelvin Hall on 4 September when, subject to agreeing a new contract with promoter Frank Warren, Arthur will make his comeback on the undercard of Ricky Burns' bid to win the WBO super-featherweight title from unbeaten Puerto Rican champion Roman Martinez.

As Burns attempts to become only the 12th Scot to win a credible version of the world title, Arthur's sights are firmly set on achieving the feat in a second weight division.

"Lightweight has probably always been my best weight," he said. "I think anyone in the lightweight division will find it hard to cope with my power and experience. Believe me, I'm going to be a world champion again."