BoxRec

...disappointing.

BBC reports he will fight Russian Alexander Hrulev 14-1-1 for the WBO I/C title. Nothing more than a keep busy fight.

http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=228159
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/6334253.stm

Klassen is fighting Fana in May.

Frank, pleash can I have the Weakesht champion, and the mosht anyonymoush time washter fightsh in the meantime

Can't stand Alex Arthur.

Poor fight...never even heard of this opponent. When it said on the main Boxrec news screen for the WBO title it was bad enough but it's not even the full strap but the Intercontinental belt? Desperate stuff, Arthur is treading water.

When was the last time you heard a fighter giving up a European title to concentrate on a World title with out securing a shot first?
Mitchell fighting in Liverpool a West Ham fan fighting in front of scourers, little local support. Arthur not fighting at home. Sports Network are clearly struggling to get TV dates from ITV. One show a month isn’t good enough.

viciousmaussa wrote:Frank, pleash can I have the Weakesht champion, and the mosht anyonymoush time washter fightsh in the meantime

Can't stand Alex Arthur.

With respect vm you are out of order. I spoke to Alex on Sunday and he is not at all happy with the way things are going for him. Look at the world champs at his weight...and he isn't a mandatory for any of them so he can hardly force a fight.

What do you want him PERSONALLY to do? It's up to his management team to get him a shot and Alex has made his feelings clear.

Its going to be hard for Arthur to get a title shot quickly, Barrera and Marquez fight in March, so the winner of that one probably won't fight after that until June/July, and would be looking for a big money fight anyway, and Arthur doesn't fit that bill.
Edwin Valero is WBA champ, and i don't think he'd be allowed to box in this country, because of his ban in the US, so that would mean Arthur having to travel abroad and face one of the biggest punchers Lb for Lb, i can't see his people being to keen on that.
Malcolm Klassen the IBF champ is the one it seems Arthur is after, but Klassen is boxing Fana in May, so providing he wins it would be August/September time he fights again. How the hell Fana gets another shot is beyond me, but thats boxing.
Joan Guzman is WBO champ and a fighter i'd love to see Arthur in against, i'd think that Alex would have to travel to the US for this fight to happen, but its a winnable gamble if he does. Would Arthurs managment be willing to take that chance though?

Apparently Pac's fight with Chi has fallen through, and one touted option is that he (Manny) now fights Guzman, who is due a fight anyway.

Pacman is ahead of Alex in all the rankings, so a title shot for him would be good news for AA, as he'd be out of the rankings for a month or two at least, giving Arthur an eliminator shot most probably.

Arthur will probably be fighting the winner of Earl/Katsidis in the summer.

I agree Ian, Alex can only beat what is in front of him.

However, frankly very annoyed at this match - backward step. The guy is a Russian domestic level featherweight judging by his record.

The Earl/ Katardis situation is probably the most realistic.

Yet another false promise appears to be happening.

Arthur can definatly fight in championship class, he'd hold his own with any of the champions, just hope he gets the chance this year.

stujones wrote:I agree Ian, Alex can only beat what is in front of him.

However, frankly very annoyed at this match - backward step. The guy is a Russian domestic level featherweight judging by his record.

The Earl/ Katardis situation is probably the most realistic.

Yet another false promise appears to be happening.

Trust me, Stu, you are not as annoyed as the man himself!

Ian 'Mr' McNeilly wrote:

viciousmaussa wrote:Frank, pleash can I have the Weakesht champion, and the mosht anyonymoush time washter fightsh in the meantime

Can't stand Alex Arthur.

With respect vm you are out of order. I spoke to Alex on Sunday and he is not at all happy with the way things are going for him. Look at the world champs at his weight...and he isn't a mandatory for any of them so he can hardly force a fight.

What do you want him PERSONALLY to do? It's up to his management team to get him a shot and Alex has made his feelings clear.

Why should I hold back on my opinion?

He goes on about the privelige of fighting Barrera et al, then in the same sentence says how he'd like St Clair / now Klassen, "THE WEAKEST OF THE CHAMPIONS".

In truth, Klassen has been totally disrespected, & I wouldn't be surprised if Arthur has never even seen him fight.

There does seem to be a bit of a pattern with SN fighters disrespecting fighters from other camps. How many ppl have thought they were coming over here only to be thwarted by this or that prima donna - slash - sicknote?

Klassen sounds like a Klass Act, because he said he's not giving Arthur a shot, as he'd rather take his title to America and fight the best.

I applaud him for not getting sucked in and for having a feel for his own destiny. Sure he's only fighting Fana next, but he called out Pacquiao.

Arthur is not high up in the IBF. Isn't he lower in the IBF than with the other sanctioners? But you know, I'd hate Klassen to come over to Scotland and get the shit end of a close decision.

Ian 'Mr' McNeilly wrote:
Trust me, Stu, you are not as annoyed as the man himself!

Tell me, when did AA re-sign with SN?

When this fight was announced it did say 'Alex Arthur in a 10 round international bout'. I took this as meaning a routine fight against someone we had not heard of, a biding his time fight while he awaits something big. I'm not surprised at all at the opponent. I'm just happy to get to see AA fight live.

This is rediculous, The WBO Intercontinental Super Featherweight Title was won by Roman Martinez 4 DAYS ago!!!!!

Unfortunatly for Arthur there isn't any american contenders at super feather he could take on, Kevin Kelly is about the top ranked boxer from there at the moment, and i'm not sure he hasn't retired

viciousmaussa wrote:
He goes on about the privelige of fighting Barrera et al, then in the same sentence says how he'd like St Clair / now Klassen, "THE WEAKEST OF THE CHAMPIONS".

In truth, Klassen has been totally disrespected, & I wouldn't be surprised if Arthur has never even seen him fight.

Well calling Klassen the weakest of the champions would be correct. In a division full of rich talent such as champs Barrera, Pacquiao(Ring champ) Guzman & Valero..Klassen just happens to be the weakest.

I still think he beats Arthur though.

Before the opponent was announced some people where talking that this could be a world title eliminator for Alex Arthur, so no wonder some of you are disappointed. But i never read this from a real source so just assumed he would be getting a few rounds in on the Olympia bill in a rountine fight.

stujones wrote:This is rediculous, The WBO Intercontinental Super Featherweight Title was won by Roman Martinez 4 DAYS ago!!!!!

Make it a Interim Title fight

Twinkle Toes wrote:

Ian 'Mr' McNeilly wrote:
Trust me, Stu, you are not as annoyed as the man himself!

Tell me, when did AA re-sign with SN?

No idea...he's been with them since he became a pro and says he has an excellent relationship with them...and has been promised a world title shot after his next two fights (including the one in March).

Get Boxing Monthly's March edition for a bit more info

lvlarc_uk wrote:

viciousmaussa wrote:
He goes on about the privelige of fighting Barrera et al, then in the same sentence says how he'd like St Clair / now Klassen, "THE WEAKEST OF THE CHAMPIONS".

In truth, Klassen has been totally disrespected, & I wouldn't be surprised if Arthur has never even seen him fight.

Well calling Klassen the weakest of the champions would be correct. In a division full of rich talent such as champs Barrera, Pacquiao(Ring champ) Guzman & Valero..Klassen just happens to be the weakest.

I still think he beats Arthur though.

But with a win over St Clair, in what by all reports was one hell of a fight, there is much promise.

In my opinion Pac is overrated and his bubble will soon burst. Barrera's on the way out. Guzman was poor last time out and I believe he has stamina and power issues - there's something half arsed about him. Valero looks increasingly lethal but who knows, Klassen might be the future of the divisision for all any of us know.

viciousmaussa wrote:

Ian 'Mr' McNeilly wrote:

viciousmaussa wrote:Frank, pleash can I have the Weakesht champion, and the mosht anyonymoush time washter fightsh in the meantime

Can't stand Alex Arthur.

With respect vm you are out of order. I spoke to Alex on Sunday and he is not at all happy with the way things are going for him. Look at the world champs at his weight...and he isn't a mandatory for any of them so he can hardly force a fight.

What do you want him PERSONALLY to do? It's up to his management team to get him a shot and Alex has made his feelings clear.

Why should I hold back on my opinion?

He goes on about the privelige of fighting Barrera et al, then in the same sentence says how he'd like St Clair / now Klassen, "THE WEAKEST OF THE CHAMPIONS".

In truth, Klassen has been totally disrespected, & I wouldn't be surprised if Arthur has never even seen him fight.

There does seem to be a bit of a pattern with SN fighters disrespecting fighters from other camps. How many ppl have thought they were coming over here only to be thwarted by this or that prima donna - slash - sicknote?

Klassen sounds like a Klass Act, because he said he's not giving Arthur a shot, as he'd rather take his title to America and fight the best.

I applaud him for not getting sucked in and for having a feel for his own destiny. Sure he's only fighting Fana next, but he called out Pacquiao.

Arthur is not high up in the IBF. Isn't he lower in the IBF than with the other sanctioners? But you know, I'd hate Klassen to come over to Scotland and get the shit end of a close decision.

It's fornicate all to do with opinions. You are clearly saying that Arthur has asked for a shite, weak opponent as a make time fight before he goes on to bigger and better things. This isn't the case.

He has said it more than once about Klassen, which is my objection - the latter bit on the new opponent was my little cynical add on, so don't get too upset.

Re Klassen, which I find offensive - AA uses words to the effect of I'd like to fight the weakest of the champions, Klassen. I'd like to fight Klassen, he's the weakest of the champions. We'd like to get the IBF guy, he's not as good as the others.

A euphemism for get me the easiest route to the title. The backdoor to the kitchen. What did Warren say, "I - WANT - TO - GET - HIM - IN - A - POSITION - WHERE - HE - CAN- BE - CHAMPION - FOR - A - LONG - LONG - TIME.'

What does that bring to mind? Calzaghe vs Salem, Ashira, Bika, Sobot, Hatton's 14 fringe title fights and God knows other impure rubbish. Frankly I'm sick of it and I'll say it wasn't me who invented a term that has something to do with a guy known in some parts as allegedly and "shite" to describe prime time ITV entertainment that we get every few months.

Arthur's PR guy should tell him to button it or at least produce better scripts.

Poor matchmaking in my opinion and will do little to further Arthurs real World Title ambitions. He has often stated how much he admires fellow Scott Ken Buchanan who before winning his title learnt his craft against the likes of Brian Hudson, Chris Fernandez, Miguel Velasquez, Vincenzo Pitardi and Frankie Narvaez.

Arthur gets Alexander Hrulev, not quite the same is it?

I admire the way Arthur rebuilt himself after the Gomez loss but this sort of match is not fair on him, the fans and the sport in general.

Also how much do you want to bet that if Featherweight Alexander Hrulev puts up a half decent fight he will be back in 6 months to take on Amir Khan?

Taki... wrote:Arthur will probably be fighting the winner of Earl/Katsidis in the summer.

Does anyone know if Warren has any options on Katsidis?