Review of Scottish boxing in 2009

2009 has certainly been a mixed bag for Scottish boxing, with championships being won and lost all over the place. With the year coming to an end, Craig MacKay casts a look back over the previous year.

Alex Arthur, former WBO super-feather champion and probably still the biggest name in Scottish boxing has had a disastrous year. After losing his WBO strap to Nicky Cook in the summer of 2008, Arthur announced he would be moving up to lightweight and planned to win a world title after only a few fights. A long period of inactivity, caused by a blood disorder led to Arthur only fighting once before December, in a one round stoppage of the overmatched Mohamed Benbiou in June. Arthur got back in the ring at light-welter to face the decent Nigel Wright, who was supposed to offer some resistance but pose no real threat to the Scotsman. Wright seemingly hadn’t read the script however and triumphed on points to put a major dent in Arthur’s world title ambitions at any weight. Arthur was unlucky to have suffered an illness in 2009 and the forced period of inactivity at this stage in his career (Arthur is 31) was extremely unfortunate. I however do not believe Arthur has the ability to compete at world level at either lightweight or light-welter and unless he wants to settle for competing at a domestic level in the future then the time may be right to hang up his gloves. Alex has been a fantastic representative for Scottish boxing throughout his career, having held a version of the world title at super-feather but the time may be right to pass on the torch.

One-time Arthur victim Ricky Burns may feel he is the man to take on Arthur’s mantle. Burns had a fairly inactive 2009, only competing twice but both times he stepped in the ring he did enough to remind everyone he was a force to be reckoned with at super-feather. The commonwealth champion stopped the dangerous Michael Gomez in seven in an impressive second defence of his strap and followed it up with a decisive points victory over Northern Irelands Kevin O’Hara three months later. Talk of a match up with fellow Brit Kevin Mitchell followed and the mouth watering match-up seemed set to happen on the undercard of Amir Khan Dmitry Salita. Mitchell instead opted to step up to lightweight and fight in a WBO title eliminator, leaving Burns with no opponent. Burns didn’t fight again in 2009 and he needs to be a lot more active in 2010 if he is going to achieve his aim of holding a world title next year.

Another Scot who only stepped in the ring twice in 2009 was 2008’s young boxer of the year, Paul Appleby. Britain’s youngest ever British featherweight champion warmed up for his defence against the undefeated Martin Lindsay with a one round blowout of Juan Garcia Martin in March. Appleby entered the ring as the bookies' favourite one month later but was rescued by the referee in the sixth round after a toe-toe war with Lindsay in Belfast. Appleby was impressive as ever on the offence but his habit of using his face as the first line of defence cost him dearly. The youngster took a break from the sport and despite being scheduled to fight for the European title in Ukraine against Oleg Yefimourich in October; he did not fight again in 2009. Appleby is only 22 and can be very proud of his 14-1 record. He certainly has the ability to come back and regain his British title or win the European title in 2010 at featherweight. If Appleby chooses to come back at a higher weight then who better to aim for in the long term than the previously mentioned Ricky Burns. Appleby-Burns for the Commonwealth title in 2010? Sounds good to me!

The man that Appleby beat for the Lonsdale belt, John Simpson, had a far more successful 2009 than his rival. In January, Simpson halted the previously unbeaten Paul Truscott on cuts to lift the Commonwealth title then repeated the feat three months later in a rematch to defend his title. A December defence against Manchester’s Stevie Bell resulted in another stoppage win for Simpson capping of an impressive 2009. Simpson has left himself with plenty of options for 2010, including a re-match with Appleby or a shot at Martin Lindsay’s British crown. Davey Savage Jnr and Kris Hughes, a couple of ambitious Scottish young guns may have other ideas and force Simpson to look over his shoulder in 2010 instead.

Savage Jnr was my pick of Scottish boxer to look out for in 2009 and although only fighting twice, which is nowhere near enough at this stage of his career, he remained undefeated and picked up the British masters title with a points win over journeyman Sid Razak. Savage remains a prospect for 2010 and if he can fight more often, he really needs to be in the ring at least four times next year, he can be a major force on the domestic stage. A potential rival for Savage Jnr is fellow undefeated Scot, Kris “badger” Hughes. A seven fight, seven win 2009 record lifted Hughes record to 10-0 and has made his fellow pros sit up and take notice. With only one stoppage in his ten wins, Hughes may lack punch power but at only 22 this may develop over the next couple of years and if it does then his opponents better watch out.

Moving up to lightweight and two Scots gained titles in 2009. Willie Limond gained the vacant WBU title in an uneventful points win over Ryan Barrett in May. This victory was sandwiched between two clear points wins over Harry Ramogoadi and Duncan Cottier. Limond did attempt to move into promoting in 2009 and wanted to market his WBU defences as world title fights. Limond may be doing no different from other promoters but marketing a WBU title as a world title is nothing short of deceitful to the ticket buying public in this writer’s opinion. It appears that Limond may be winding down his boxing career in 2010 after turning down a shot at Kevin Mitchell, preferring to concentrate on his joinery work, after claiming the money on offer from Sports Network was not enough to consider the fight.

Fellow lightweight Lee McAllister started 2009 with an unsuccessful shot at John Murray’s British title but bounced back with three victories which included capturing the vacant commonwealth title against Godfriend Sowah with a third round stoppage and then an impressive defence in stopping fellow Scot Charlie King in seven. McAllister’s promoter Tommy Gilmour hoped to get his charge a shot at European ruler Anthony Mezzache but John Murray looks to have sealed that fight and McAllister instead has a commonwealth tile defence against Samuel Amaoko, live on Sky Sports on January 29th. McAllister is aiming for a huge 2010 and hopes victory against Amaoko can set up a big year, with British and European title fights being goals for the Aberdeen Assassin. One fight I would love to see happening in 2010 would be Limond-McAllister as an eliminator for a British title shot and if the money is right then it may happen, it would certainly be a big ticket seller in Aberdeen or Glasgow.

LA based Scot Craig McEwan may be on the cusp of a world title shot in 2010 after an impressive 2009. The Freddie Roach trained middleweight had a 5-0 2009 which included stand out wins against Andy Lee conqueror and former Contender TV star Brian Vera and over James Parison in a clash of the undefeated prospects. If McEwan was based in the UK, there would be plenty talk of potential clashes with Matthew Macklin or Darren Barker and if McEwan can stay on course to achieve his world title dream in 2010 then what who wouldn’t be excited by the prospect of a match up with either of these names?

My pick of Scot to look out for in 2010? It has to be Stephen “SR” Russell. I was always impressed with the young super-bantam when I saw him in 2008 and he returned from a lay off in 2009 with a fantastic first round stoppage of then undefeated Paul Economides on the Hatton promotions Hatton-N’Dou show. Reports are that the Hatton’s were extremely impressed with Russell and a potential promotional deal may await. If Russell can get fights in 2010 then he is undoubtedly a name to look out for.