Green Retains but McArthur Will Still Be Celebrating

By Tom Gray at Ringside

Stuart Green (9st 13) retained his Scottish light welterweight title with a ten round decision over Glasgow’s Gary McArthur (9st 13) at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Glasgow on Monday night. Referee, Kenny Pringle scored the fight 99-92.

Green, from Kirkcaldy, took the first session on activity with some crude but effective rushes. It was reconnaissance for McArthur who moved around the ring and did little more than offer a range finder jab.

McArthur appeared to exude confidence in round two as he moved in and out of range, frequently with his hands by his side. The former Prizefighter finalist looked less than worried about the incoming but again, he gave away the round.

McArthur released some punches in round three but he still allowed his opponent to be the aggressor. Green was focussed on the job while McArthur was stuck in second gear, despite producing some sharp work.

McArthur continued to do little of anything in the fourth and his demeanour suggested that he had little respect for his opponent, who continued to chip away at the target. This reporter noted that something had to be wrong with McArthur as he appeared beyond distant.

In the fifth McArthur opened up heavily for the first time and the disparity in punching power was clear to see. He attacked Green’s body with abandon, scoring heavily, and for the first time he looked like himself. Green weathered the storm and bravely fired back with nice punches to head and body.

Green dug his heals in again in the sixth and pounded out an impressive three minutes. He was very adept at moving his head when McArthur launched sporadic attacks and clearly took the round. The gap was widening for the Scottish champion and his confidence was growing.

McArthur’s corner must have been exasperated by the end of round seven because their charge was treating the fight like an exhibition match. Green wanted it more and continued to push his opponent backwards with effective aggression.

The challenger opened up in the eighth and picked some nice one twos, while switch hitting. He also countered well whenever Green let his hands go and one wondered why he hadn’t done this from the start.

McArthur picked some nice shots again in the ninth but Green sensed that his opponent was attempting to steal rounds, so he upped his work rate and took yet another round handily.

McArthur closed the fight as he started it, doing little, as Green punched his way to victory. It was a bewildering performance from McArthur who looked capable of so much more.

Barry “The Bizness” Morrison (10st 5) made a welcome return to action after a sixteen month lay-off to outpoint Malta’s Daniel Micallef (11st 1) in a four round welterweight contest.  The official score was 40-36.

Morrison, from Motherwell, scored from the outside and picked his spots well in the first.  He relied on his jab and chose the correct times to unload whipping hooks to the body which kept Micaleff more than honest.

The former British light welterweight champion displayed nice hand speed in round two and sat down on his punches.  Micaleff appeared startled and could not deal with his opponent’s strength and versatility, as body shots continued to land with alarming frequency.

Micaleff’s nose was burst in the third and there was damage around his left eye in what was becoming a bullying one sided beat down.  Morrison teed off at will, inflicting significant punishment and his experience was clearly levels above that of his Bellshill based opponent.

Morrison tore into the target again in the final stanza, unloading with sharp shots, up and down.  Micaleff was trying to beat the clock and refused to engage for long periods, as Morrison ended the fight well.

Andrejs Podusovs (9st 4) won his professional debut with a solid and hard hitting performance against Paul McElhinney (9st 8) over six two minute rounds at super featherweight.  The official score was 58-57.

Podusovs unloaded with power punches to head and body in the first and the reddened the Scot around the ribs in the opening session.  The Latvian looked in excellent condition and was very powerful for a super featherweight.

McElhinney, from Newlands, got his jab going in the second but he was being made to work very hard to keep his opponent off.  McElhinney’s punches had little effect on his opponent and Podusovs was doing a good job of roughing up the Scot on the inside.

Sensing urgency McElhinney came out bombing in the third and connected impressively with combinations to head and body.  Podusovs wasn’t getting the time to load up and he was made to pay time and again as his opponent fought back furiously.

The drive continued in round four as McElhinney stayed busy but this time Podusovs timed him and landed a devastating overhand right.  He followed that up with a cluster of sharp hooks to head and body and the Scot was under heavy pressure as the round ended.

The fight was down to preference and you paid your money and made your choice.  You had McElhinney’s work rate against sporadic power punching from the Latvian and the fifth was relatively even with all to play for going into the final session.

The sixth saw a huge effort from Podusovs who landed thunderous power shots throughout the session.  McElhinney did well to remain on his feet in the face of some savage punishment and the referee scored the contest accurately.

The show was part of a Burns Night Celebration which was promoted by Tommy Gilmour’s St. Andrew’s Sporting Club.  The special guests at the event were Adam Smith, Jim Watt, Johnny Nelson and Glenn McCrory.