Former world champion Alex Arthur is well placed to give his view on the upcoming fight between British champion Kash Farooq and Commonwealth champion Lee McGregor.
Arthur has held both titles as well as the European during his career.
The Farooq-McGregor fight is a real derby clash, Farooq representing Glasgow while McGregor is from Edinburgh. Both cities, 46 miles apart, have a friendly rivalry.
Arthur experienced a couple of his own east-west battles during his career against Craig Docherty and Willie Limond.
“What a ridiculous fight to be happening at this stage of their career.” Arthur exclusively told WBN. Both fighters are undefeated and have big futures ahead.
“When I was fighting, you had me and Craig Docherty and then even more so with Willie Limond because we were both unbeaten, British title on the line. We sold out the Braehead Arena, place was packed. The atmosphere in Scotland at the time, east v west. It was in media almost every day, it was chaos, we both went on to have pretty decent careers. The level of that fight reminds me of this.” Arthur said.
With two fighters with their careers still very much in front of them, kudos should be given to both on accepting the fight. Arthur clearly can’t wait to commentate on the clash for BBC Scotland and breaks down both fighters for WBN.
“These two kids have enormous potential, unbelievable. This wee guy Kash, I’ve done his last three fights and he is getting better every time. He shows me something new every time.” Explains Arthur.
“Sometimes I’m watching him like a fan with some of the stuff he does. He’s fantastic, his movement patterns are brilliant. He leaves himself in a position to punch all the time. He is berh quick but doesn’t rely on his speed, for me he relies on his timing and punch precision.
“Looking at him overall, his physical attributes are fantastic as well. Doesn’t struggle to make weight but very physically strong at the weight, big advantage for him.”
Moving on to Lee McGregor and Arthur says, “For me, Lee turned pro a little too young. Should have stayed amateur, went to the commonwealth games, maybe became a household name. Could have done if he went to the games. Think that’s one of his mistakes, jumping to the McGuigan’s too quick but he has picked up a couple of titles so he is learning that way. It might take him a bit longer to get to a point that he could have been at already.
“In terms of physical attributes, Lee is massive for the weight, he’s that big that it could be a concern that he could make weight comfortably and still be able to perform for a hard twelve rounds. For me, he will be able to because of his age, he’s only a kid. When you’re young you can manage it, should be fine in that sense.
“I believe Lee will be more emotional going into the fight, I think Kash is pretty emotionless. You see Lee’s interviews saying he is doing it for his missus and kid. Kash has a single focus, he’s not doing it for anybody else, he wants to be a champion.
“Lee’s emotion could help him, help him push through as this could be a hard fight. None of them will want to give. It’s going to be a long night for both guys as neither will give early.”
Like most of the Scottish boxing scene Arthur can’t wait.
“It’s going to be brilliant.”
By Mick Kane.
