Guzman v Arthur........something stinks about this.
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scrap iron
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 407
- Joined: 02 Jan 2007, 17:38
According to the BBC website Joan Guzman now has his visa and a new date will be announced in June. I'm beginning to wonder if this will be added onto to the Enzo Maccaranelli and Gavin Rees show which is expected to be taking place in June at the Cardiff Indoor Arena. They will probably struggle to sell tickets for that one as both are coming off losses, so Guzman v Arthur would help shift a few more. It would explain why seetickets sent out an email saying the show wouldn't be rescheduled if in fact it's just going to be added to another show. I suppose Arthur v Guzman could even be added to the Amir Khan show in Birmingham, but I doubt it. Anyway it looks like June now.
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Spud
- Heavyweight
A bit of forward planning from the promoters - Ummmmmm - if it is why didn't they say that??scrap iron wrote:According to the BBC website Joan Guzman now has his visa and a new date will be announced in June. I'm beginning to wonder if this will be added onto to the Enzo Maccaranelli and Gavin Rees show which is expected to be taking place in June at the Cardiff Indoor Arena. They will probably struggle to sell tickets for that one as both are coming off losses, so Guzman v Arthur would help shift a few more. It would explain why seetickets sent out an email saying the show wouldn't be rescheduled if in fact it's just going to be added to another show. I suppose Arthur v Guzman could even be added to the Amir Khan show in Birmingham, but I doubt it. Anyway it looks like June now.
Edinburgh's Alex Arthur now gets his shot at vaunted WBO super-featherweight champion Joan Guzman in June, probably at the Meadowbank Arena in Edinburgh. The two were due to square off at the same arena on May 3 but visa problems encountered by Dominican Guzman put things on hold. All the time Guzman is growing older and more rusty: he's 32 and boxed only twice in the last 20 months. All the time 'big' Alex enjoys more time to make the weight.
This is a cracking-looking fight, between Arthur the puncher and Guzman the boxer. Unbeaten Guzman used to have a puncher's reputation but moved up from super-bantamweight (where he also held the WBO title) and has moulded his style accordingly. The same punches that routinely destroyed smaller men have less affect at the higher weight and Guzman gets on his bike, mixes it up, unloads in classy bursts and retains his old handspeed. He won the title by dazzling Argentina's Jorge "Hyena" Barrios on the way to the points in Las Vegas in September 2006 (Barrios tried to eat himself out of the fight), a title he has retained twice to go to 28-0 (17). His punches still hurt, of course. The big names at super-featherweight (and other lighter weights) want no part of "Lil' Tyson" and credit Arthur for having a go, although you wonder whether the Scot's gung-ho mentality comes into play here.
In 27 fights, the charismatic Arthur has lost only to Manchester's vastly more experienced Michael Gomez in a reckless display in 2003 (five brutal rounds) but he toned it down afterwards and earned his (mandatory) shot when he broke up Georgia's slippery and spiteful Koba Gogoladze in 10 measured rounds last year. Alex picked his punches smartly and floored Gogoladze three times in all. He also refused to 'bite' when the Georgian fouled him (often), a brilliantly mature display from the former British, Commonwealth and European champion, tempered by his most recent one against Salford's gritty but unsung Steve Foster Jnr in December. Arthur looked drawn at the weight (he basically trains himself) and ran out of something - and into a lot of punches - after Foster survived a heavy knockdown in the ninth round (long left hook underneath) and came back hard. Foster, just a blown-up featherweight, dropped him back in the 11th with a big right to the head (Arthur was surprisingly open to the shot) and would have salvaged a magnificent draw but for a deducted point for headwork.
OK, now to the post-mortem. Arthur, with 19 of his 26 victims taken out, is used to men buckling beneath him (especially from his body blows) and may have 'switched off' after that ninth-round knockdown, after which it is hard to switch on again; he may also have taken Foster lightly (nobody, bar Steve's Viking dad, who gave me a long 'knowing' look a week before the fight, expected such a steely display from the Mancunian) and thus his training too, the latter of which is vital if the 5ft 9ins Arthur is to make the weight comfortably (between fights, Arthur is up there with Duran and Hatton for blowing up); the one undisputed fact remains, it was not a good time for Arthur to indulge in another Gomez.
Arthur is world class but you wonder if he is elite world class after such a display. You also wonder about his ability to make the weight, of course. Guzman has been there and addressed it by jumping up two weights. He looks happy at super-featherweight, possessing good stamina to go with his quick bursts of punches; Arthur is much more deliberate with his punches, and tends to throw single shots, although he's pretty fast himself and better inside than he used to be - and don't forget those punches are always heavy. Home advantage is also a selling point for Arthur and his chances, not a huge one, given Guzman has boxed all over the world (including a WBO title win in Cardiff at super-bantam) despite his visa problems. Ultimately, it might boil down to Guzman's chin, which looks good. The champion has one of those hard heads, in fact, and Arthur is cut-prone these days (in almost every fight) and his defence has never been great. I can see the strong, punishing 29-year-old Arthur, who has won his last 10, having his moments and certainly going the full 12 rounds (Guzman has failed to stop his last seven opponents); I can also Alex him picking up a plenty of punches and finishing busted up.
Stick with the man who's done it at two weights.
This is a cracking-looking fight, between Arthur the puncher and Guzman the boxer. Unbeaten Guzman used to have a puncher's reputation but moved up from super-bantamweight (where he also held the WBO title) and has moulded his style accordingly. The same punches that routinely destroyed smaller men have less affect at the higher weight and Guzman gets on his bike, mixes it up, unloads in classy bursts and retains his old handspeed. He won the title by dazzling Argentina's Jorge "Hyena" Barrios on the way to the points in Las Vegas in September 2006 (Barrios tried to eat himself out of the fight), a title he has retained twice to go to 28-0 (17). His punches still hurt, of course. The big names at super-featherweight (and other lighter weights) want no part of "Lil' Tyson" and credit Arthur for having a go, although you wonder whether the Scot's gung-ho mentality comes into play here.
In 27 fights, the charismatic Arthur has lost only to Manchester's vastly more experienced Michael Gomez in a reckless display in 2003 (five brutal rounds) but he toned it down afterwards and earned his (mandatory) shot when he broke up Georgia's slippery and spiteful Koba Gogoladze in 10 measured rounds last year. Alex picked his punches smartly and floored Gogoladze three times in all. He also refused to 'bite' when the Georgian fouled him (often), a brilliantly mature display from the former British, Commonwealth and European champion, tempered by his most recent one against Salford's gritty but unsung Steve Foster Jnr in December. Arthur looked drawn at the weight (he basically trains himself) and ran out of something - and into a lot of punches - after Foster survived a heavy knockdown in the ninth round (long left hook underneath) and came back hard. Foster, just a blown-up featherweight, dropped him back in the 11th with a big right to the head (Arthur was surprisingly open to the shot) and would have salvaged a magnificent draw but for a deducted point for headwork.
OK, now to the post-mortem. Arthur, with 19 of his 26 victims taken out, is used to men buckling beneath him (especially from his body blows) and may have 'switched off' after that ninth-round knockdown, after which it is hard to switch on again; he may also have taken Foster lightly (nobody, bar Steve's Viking dad, who gave me a long 'knowing' look a week before the fight, expected such a steely display from the Mancunian) and thus his training too, the latter of which is vital if the 5ft 9ins Arthur is to make the weight comfortably (between fights, Arthur is up there with Duran and Hatton for blowing up); the one undisputed fact remains, it was not a good time for Arthur to indulge in another Gomez.
Arthur is world class but you wonder if he is elite world class after such a display. You also wonder about his ability to make the weight, of course. Guzman has been there and addressed it by jumping up two weights. He looks happy at super-featherweight, possessing good stamina to go with his quick bursts of punches; Arthur is much more deliberate with his punches, and tends to throw single shots, although he's pretty fast himself and better inside than he used to be - and don't forget those punches are always heavy. Home advantage is also a selling point for Arthur and his chances, not a huge one, given Guzman has boxed all over the world (including a WBO title win in Cardiff at super-bantam) despite his visa problems. Ultimately, it might boil down to Guzman's chin, which looks good. The champion has one of those hard heads, in fact, and Arthur is cut-prone these days (in almost every fight) and his defence has never been great. I can see the strong, punishing 29-year-old Arthur, who has won his last 10, having his moments and certainly going the full 12 rounds (Guzman has failed to stop his last seven opponents); I can also Alex him picking up a plenty of punches and finishing busted up.
Stick with the man who's done it at two weights.
Last edited by bennie on 02 May 2008, 07:00, edited 2 times in total.
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Bard of Boxrec
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 13114
- Joined: 22 Feb 2002, 20:00
arthur the puncher? guzman the boxer? lol.
bennie, for some reason you fail to take into account the issue of levels here. Guzman has been extended in all those decision wins by a long line of seriously hard headed world level mexicans and tough tough gatekeeper/fringe guys.
He is about to fight a guy who was put on ice skates by stephen fricken foster.
"Those punches are ALWAYS heavy" lol. Who the f*ck says? WHo has arthur EVER stopped with any world credentials whatsoever? do you honestly think this is significant after guzman facing his comparable murderer's row of badasses?
Guzman will clean up inside 4 rounds.
bennie, for some reason you fail to take into account the issue of levels here. Guzman has been extended in all those decision wins by a long line of seriously hard headed world level mexicans and tough tough gatekeeper/fringe guys.
He is about to fight a guy who was put on ice skates by stephen fricken foster.
"Those punches are ALWAYS heavy" lol. Who the f*ck says? WHo has arthur EVER stopped with any world credentials whatsoever? do you honestly think this is significant after guzman facing his comparable murderer's row of badasses?
Guzman will clean up inside 4 rounds.