Boxing: Arthur AOK for Kelvin KO

ALEX ARTHUR has vowed to earn himself a glowing report tomorrow night at the Kelvin Hall - and if that means blotting the copybook of Peter McDonagh, so be it.

The Irishman has never been knocked out in more than 30 fights but the Capital's former world champion, keen to get his career back on track, has been in fine form in sparring.

"My aim is to make a dramatic statement to Scottish fight fans that Alex Arthur - the old Alex Arthur who used to thrill everyone at ringside - is back with a bang.

"What better way to do that than knock out the guy who stopped my first pro ring conqueror Michael Gomez inside the distance?'' said Arthur whose lightweight division clash will feature on the undercard of the Ricky Burns v Roman Martinez WBO superfeatherweight world title bout. "I've been sparring loads with two great fighters - Glasgow's Willie Limond and former British featherweight champion Paul Appleby - and I've never been sharper.

"I guarantee that the shadow Alex Arthur who turned up when I was beaten by Nigel Wright will definitely not be answering the bell on Saturday.''

''I know that there are those out there who say 'Arthur is past it at 32' but all they do is fire me up even more to not only beat McDonagh but eventually fight again for a world lightweight title .''

Arthur's ring coach, Terry McCormack, agreed with his fighter's sense of confidence. "Alex Arthur has looked superb in sparring sessions at the Lochend gym.

"He has regained the hunger and has the tools to turn that hunger into victory against McDonagh.''

One of those vital sparring partners, Paul Appleby, said: "I've sparred with Alex Arthur as far back as before when he beat Koba Gogaladze (for the interim WBO superfeatherweight title in Cardiff in 2007) and Arthur is really back to that kind of sharpness that he displayed back then - he's moving well and hitting really hard.''

Meanwhile, if former British nine-stone champion Appleby may have been disappointed that his scheduled eight-rounder on tomorrow's Glasgow fight bill against Bulgarian Yordan Vasilev has been cut to a six rounder but not at the reason for that cut, as McCormack explained. "The problem is that most six and eight-round boxers want no part of an ex-champion like Appleby - his mangement team found it hard to match him for that reason so Paul's just going to go out a do a number on the guy who has never won in seven bouts in the UK and Ireland.''

Also, Appleby stressed: "This may be a non-title fight six-rounder but I aim to make a statement that I am a legitimate contender for Ricky Burns' Commonwealth title should Burns fail to beat Martinez."If Burns beats Martinez then I want to challenge him for his new world title, so I have to look good on Saturday, no matter who the opponent is."

Meanwhile, McCormack believes that Edinburgh light-middleweight John Thain can make it a Capital hat trick of ring wins when he clashes with Wishaw's Paddy Pollok in what is former Leith Victoria triple amateur Scottish champion, Thain's second pro bout.

"Pollok is much more experienced than Thain, but John too has looked in terrific form in sparring and he desperately wants to win his first pro fight in a Scottish ring having won his first bout against Kevin McAuley in Manchester earlier this year," McCormack explained.