BoxRec

Is it true Arthur used to be trained by Roach around 2003/2004? I was told this today by a lad from Edinburgh. If it's true, was it before or after the Gomez fight and can anyone shed anymore info on the partnership? Granted, Roach wouldn't have been as big a name as he is now but it was the first I had heard of it and I was a bit surprised.

Also, what are people's current opinions of Arthur, does he have anything to offer domestically or higher at lightweight?

Yes he was "trained" by Roach for a brief period (a year or so), think the travelling and reluctance of Roach to come over here and undergo full training camps played a part in their separation if I can remember.

Im pretty sure Roach was in the corner at the Gomez fight, and I did a wee bit of digging and found this (after I typed in the above!!):

http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f ... &view=next

In all honesty I think Alex would be best to quit now given the high level of competition at LW and the fact his career has went nowhere since losing to Cook.

Too many changes in Promoters/Trainers etc but I hope he proves me wrong!

arthur was with Roach for the Gomez fight but wasnt in his corner that night

Cheers mate. I probably should have done some digging myself, good to see an old thread pop up.

Yeah, Arthur is one of those fighters that has never settled down into a long-term team, always seems to be chopping and changing trainers. I heard Wayne McCullough's name being mentioned with him aswell. Personally I think he should chase the British title at Lightweight if he still has the fire in the belly. Murray is stepping up, Rees is fighting for the EBU belt, Mitchell will be tied up with Murray. I wouldn't be surprised to see Derry Mathews vs Alex Arthur for the vacant British LW title in the near future.

richie77 wrote:arthur was with Roach for the Gomez fight but wasnt in his corner that night

no wonder he stayed away.

Freddie has never trained Alex Arthur,he did however work his corner when Alex boxed Willie Limond.They never worked again?

Billy, has Limond joined up with yous at your gym now?
Also, who else (if ya can say) as ive seen your planning to make the place bigger

alex Arthur is now with Peter Harrison ,who has willie limond and gary young there.

Cool, dunno what made me think Limond was with nelson now.
Get mixed up with what i read and hear between all the different magazines and sites aswell as the people i speak to.

billy nelson wrote:Freddie has never trained Alex Arthur,he did however work his corner when Alex boxed Willie Limond.They never worked again?

During the commentary for Arthur/Gomez, Ian Darke says Arthur has been training with Roach in the states and that Roach is the "official trainer of Alex Arthur". There is also mention of Roach giving Arthur the strategy for the fight over the phone in the days before the fight. Wonder how much involvement Roach had at the time....

mkirkhope wrote:

billy nelson wrote:Freddie has never trained Alex Arthur,he did however work his corner when Alex boxed Willie Limond.They never worked again?

During the commentary for Arthur/Gomez, Ian Darke says Arthur has been training with Roach in the states and that Roach is the "official trainer of Alex Arthur". There is also mention of Roach giving Arthur the strategy for the fight over the phone in the days before the fight. Wonder how much involvement Roach had at the time....

From what I understand of it, like Billy said, he never trained Alex...properly anyway. Despite all the hype before the Gomez fight, AA trained in the UK and Roach was in California getting Manny ready for the first Barrera fight. The extent of Roach´s training sessions, I am told, were that he gave Alex tips over the telephone once a day.

Arthur was a beautifully schooled boxer IMO. He would have done well had he worked with Roach. Arthur gets a lot of stick and seems to rub people up the wrong way but I always thought he was a lovely technician- his balance and poise excellent, as was his repertoire. I advise any of the youg uns I train to watch him because his simplicity as a fighter put him reallly high on my list of top talents. Perhaps a stable training scenario would have served him better.

King Geedorah wrote:Remember when he was trained by Wayne McCullough. ITV interviewed Wayne between rounds. It caused an uproar. Especially when footage from a second camera revealed that Arthur used the brief distraction to run across the ring in an attempt to do a mid-fight hiring job on the opposition's chief corner man.

Roach spent a fortnight in Edinburgh before the Limond fight. Pre Gomez it was phone calls only. Terry McCormack led the corner. I remember Arthur cut and the second soaking his head with a sponge meaning Benny King had to dry his head again before starting work on the cut.

This suggests he did a decent amount of training at the wild card gym before the Kizza fight:

http://www.secondsout.com/uk-boxing-new ... ering-loss

And this mentions that he also spent a week training with Roach in LA before the Gomez fight:

http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=882&more=1

It sounds to me like Arthur was saying Roach was his proper trainer whereas maybe in reality he was just going over there to get some advice whilst still under the overall guidance of McCormack. Either way, it sounds like his preparations for fights around that time were a bit of a mess. Why would you fly to LA for 1 week shortly before the biggest fight of your career?

Such a shame he couldn't get these camps more sorted out as he had all the talent in the world imo.

Alba wrote:alex Arthur is now with Peter Harrison ,who has willie limond and gary young there.

Is that back with Peter Harrison whom he ditched as a trainer as the car journey from Edinburgh to Glasgow was hurting his back?

I remember in a few of his post fight interviews Alex really bigging up Freddie Roach and was hoping he'll come over for fights.