Quigg Sees off Arthur in Eight

By Andrew Wake at ringside: Bury’s Scott Quigg retained his British super-bantamweight title with an eighth round stoppage of Welsh veteran Jamie Arthur.

The win moves him a step closer to a much anticipated encounter with Irish sensation Carl Frampton, but the stoppage did appear a little premature.

Quigg had battled back from an unexpected knockdown in the fourth and had began to stamp his authority on the fight with heavy shots to the torso but fight appeared to have plenty of life in it when the end came.

A left hand to the body forced Arthur to spin around and when Quigg landed another shot referee Mark Green moved in to stop it.

The time was 0.35

It’s a win which will keep all the talk of a clash with Irish sensation Carl Frampton going. The Belfast man knocked out Kris Hughes a week ago and him and Quigg seem on an inevitable collision course.

However, Quigg said afterwards that he’s like to see the fight happening with more on the line than just the British and Commonwealth straps and feels it is a big arena fight for 12 months or so down the line.

One man who will probably never see a big title fight again is the crestfallen loser Jamie Arthur.

The 32-year-old from Cwmbran has been in and out of retirement for the past six years and seems likely to walk away once more after this set back.

Indeed, he’s always said that he doesn’t see the point in boxing if he cannot win the big prizes.

But actually started this bout off quite well. The early going was a tight affair but Arthur was the one that seemed to be having the most success when working off the jab.

Quigg took command of ring centre in the third round and picked out a decent one-two, but Arthur was straight back with a crisp left hand counter.

And then a session later the knockdown came. Quigg went to throw a right hand off the back foot but just as he unleashed it a left hook from Arthur connected and sent him falling backwards.

It was more a case of Quigg going over on his heels than actually being hurt. Still, Arthur went hell for leather at the restart in hope of a stoppage. However, this tactic only seemed to turn the fight in the champion’s favour.

From round five onwards, Quigg expertly moved through the gears and closed the space so that he could dig away at the Welshman’s torso.

A looping left followed by a right in the seventh suggested that Quigg had a finish in sight and soon later a right hand opened a cut above Arthur’s right eye.

And a session later it was all over.

Chief support on the undercard saw former world amateur bronze medallist and 2008 Olympian Joe Murray score his twelfth career win with a clear cut points margin over Joe Luis Graterol.

A left hook to the body and right hand over the top from Murray in the opening session brought applause from spectators at ringside and the Mancunian continued to land crisp punches until the final bell.

Told to work off the jab (or “feed the bait” as trainer Joe Gallagher put it), Murray saw the final rounds out at a leisurely pace and thoroughly deserved the 80 -72 margin handed down by referee Steve Gray.

Murray, younger sibling of former British and lightweight champion John, said afterwards that he was happy with the victory but disappointed with his performance.

Liverpool’s 2010 ABA champion James “Jazza” Dickens continued to impress as he out boxed Barrington Brown over six rounds.

Dickens, 20, was simply too sharp for his taller foe. The classy southpaw set up crisp punches with clever footwork and smart rolls of the shoulder, often leaving Brown with opportunity to respond.

In the end it was scored a predictable 60 – 54.

Rendall “2Tone” Munroe finished off Argentine import Jose Saez in quicker time than expected.

A left hook from the former European super-bantamweight king had Saez over in the opening seconds and despite him clambering back to his feet, one sensed that the end was near.

Munroe, now 24 – 2 (10 KOs), kept the pressure on when the action restarted and ten seconds before the end of the round a left to the body had the visitor wilting on the canvas.

Once more he bravely dragged himself off the ring apron but this time referee Steve Gray had seen enough and waved it off.

Munroe will now be targeting another title shot at super-bantamweight after a brief decision to move down a weight class failed to garner any real opportunities.

Matty Askin’s is regarded by many to be the uncrowned British cruiserweight champion and it’s easy to see why.

While Shane McPhilbin may hold the coveted Lonsdale belt at 14st 4lbs, Askin is generally seen as the best domestic fighter at the weight and he underlined his potential by blasting Bulgaria’s Attila Palko inside two rounds.

Palko, who had only been beaten once previously out of 13 contests, set out to make an impression and attempted to smother Askin.

However, it wasn’t long until the Blackpool favourite found his range.

A big uppercut midway through the second had Palko tottering on unsteady legs and as Askin went in to land another hefty blow, referee Phil Edwards intervened.

Stephen Foster Jnr returned to the ring after almost a year away and posted a six round points win over Yauheni Kruhlik of Belarus.

Foster Jnr, who lost his European super-featherweight title at this same venue, had Kruhlik’s face reddening in the first stanza and continued to apply the pressure throughout.

Body shots and neat hooks after clever sidesteps worked well for Foster Jnr and appeared to have dominated each round. Somehow, though, Mr Gray scored it 60 – 56, indicating that Kruhlik did enough to earn a share of two rounds.

Bradford’s Tasif Khan posted a 40 – 37 mark over Wolverhampton veteran Delroy Spencer.

It was far from vintage stuff from the once beaten Yorkshire man, but he was never in any danger and thoroughly deserved the spoils. A step up in opposition is now needed however.

St Helen’s Craig Lyon returned from his set back to Ryan Farrag in October’s Prizefighter tournament and defeated Ukraine’s former two time European featherweight challenger Yuri Voronin over six-threes.

It was far from easy going for the shaven headed puncher from Merseyside because, despite his aggression having the better of things in the early going, a cut sustained in the fourth seemed to spur Voronin on.

Both men traded leather in the fifth and sixth session but Lyon, with the laceration seemingly getting worse, continued to have the final say.

In the end Phil Edwards scored it 59 – 55.            

Providing his injury heals Lyon is set to be back in the ring on March 31 when he defends his British bantamweight title to Newcastle’s Martin Ward.