This Friday, Queensberry Promotions’ second show on BT Sport in less than a week airs from the BT Studios in Stratford, London, and it’s a cracking looking Commonwealth title match that tops the bill.
Manchester’s Lyndon ‘King’ Arthur (16-0, KO12) has long been touted as a British prospect to watch, and 2019 finally saw a breakout year for the 29-year-old.
Arthur was a solid amateur, representing Collyhurst and Moston, reaching the final of the ABA tournament twice in 2014 and 2016, and also representing British Lionhearts in the World Series of Boxing.
Turning professional in September of 2016, and has only faced an opponent with a winning record in 25 percent of his contests thus far. He has made great strides in the last year alongside trainer and cousin, Pat Barrett.
2019 began for Arthur with a first round stoppage of Gonzalo Romero, and Lyndon repeated the trick three months later in Leeds against Andrzej Soldra.
October 2019 would see Arthur gain big exposure live on BT Sport, as he took the vacant Commonwealth Light-Heavyweight title in a bruising encounter with Ghana’s Emmanuel Anim.
Arthur floored his man in the fourth, and cut both Anim’s eyes early on. Arthur himself was cut in the eighth, before coming through clearly on the scorecards.
Next up for Lyndon was set to be a bold move, defending his belt against Anthony Yarde in April, who had given Sergey Kovalev all he could handle in a WBO title loss in August 2019, but the fight was shelved due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Instead of Yarde, Arthur must make do with the all action, Carl Greaves trained, Dec Spelman (16-3, KO8). A man who always comes to win and has a big opportunity to shine here.
Scunthorpe-based Spelman turned pro in September 2014, and moved to 11-0 before a tragic meeting with Scott Westgarth in February 2018 in Doncaster.
Spelman was dropped in the English title eliminator in the third, but roared back to drop Westgarth in the tenth and final round, only to be beaten by three points on the referee’s scorecard.
Tragedy would strike in the aftermath of their meeting, with Westgarth collapsing in the dressing room and being rushed to hospital, where he later died.
Dec has carried that burden ever since and fights for his fallen opponent’s honour in every fight he takes part in.
Nine months after the Westgarth incident, Spelman reached the final of Ultimate Boxxer, where Shakan Pitters denied him in the final, scoring a first round knockdown on the way to a points win.
Two fights later, Spelman bagged the English belt, outscoring Kirk Garvey in Scunthorpe, and last time out, he shipped the title in his first defence, with Pitters again outscoring him, this time over ten rather than three, in a real entertaining scrap.
That was back in September last year, so both men come into this contest after a lengthy absence.
Prediction: Arthur is six foot two, massive for the weight, and is an awkward customer to face. Spelman only knows one way to fight, and that’s come forward with no quarter given, and I feel this plays into the champion’s hands.
After a few rounds of give and take action, I think Arthur can take over from halfway, and can wear the brave Spelman down for a stoppage win somewhere around the ninth round.
The undercard for this bill is a bit threadbare. Liverpool’s Nick Ball (12-0, KO6) hasn’t faced anyone of note as of yet in his career, and only one of his opponents had a winning record. He meets unbeaten Londoner, Jerome Campbell (6-0, KO1), a man who is still learning his trade, and has yet to face an opponent with a winning record.
There’s a Super-Bantamweight contest on the card, and Liverpudlian, Brad Strand (3-0, KO1) takes on the vastly experienced Evesham based Brett Fidoe (13-62-5, KO6), a man who has taken a fair few shock scalps in his time, and is a journeyman that always comes to win.
There are appearances for Belfast based Middleweight Caoimhin Agyarko (6-0, KO3) and Liverpool’s Featherweight, Andrew Cain (5-0, KO5) against opponents yet to be determined.
