Alex Arthur promises fireworks at Meadowbank Centre this Saturday

This Saturday, the 27th of August, see’s “Amazing” Alex Arthur (AAA) promotions “There Will Be Fireworks” show at Edinburgh’s Meadowbank stadium. This is the debut show as a promoter for ex-world champ Arthur who will also be boxing himself on the card.

Top of the bill see’s a great welterweight match up with Edinburgh’s Gary McMillan taking on Paisley’s Kevin McIntyre. McIntyre goes into this fight with a 29-8 record, which includes a British title win and subsequent defence against Kevin Anderson, a one-round blowout defeat to Kell Brook and a prizefighter semi-final loss to ex-world champion Junior Witter back in June. This is McIntyre’s first fight since.

At 24 years of age, Gary McMillan is nine years McIntyre’s junior and comes into the bout with a 12-2-1 record, his only blemishes being a loss in his pro debut, followed by a draw in his second fight and then a tight points loss to fellow Scot Garry Young in his 12th bout, back in 2009. McMillan and McIntyre are both southpaws that don’t carry reputations for being big punchers - each of their knockout ratios are around the 20% mark, so the obvious pick is for this ten-rounder to go to the scorecards.

McIntyre clearly has more experience and has been in with the better fighters. In his wins against an undefeated Tony Doherty in 2007, followed by his two triumphs over Kevin Anderson and his defeat of Stephen Haughian last year, McIntyre will argue that he has already beat fighters of a higher calibre than McMillan. However, McMillan looked extremely impressive in upsetting the odds when stopping Craig Docherty in 2010, and I think the Edinburgh man’s youth and workrate will prevail in a points win that could well come down to who has the most left in the tank in the last few rounds.

Ex super-featherweight WBO belt holder and show promoter Alex Arthur faces Georgian Aleksander Vakhtangashvili in a ten-rounder that should see the Scot having more trouble pronouncing his opponents name than taking the victory. 21-year-old Vakhtangashvili has an 8-3-1 record but has only fought outside of his native Georgia twice; a 5-round stoppage defeat to one-time Arthur victim Stephen Foster in Sheffield, and a 4th round stoppage defeat in France to Ali Oubaali. It looks like the Georgian could be out of his depth and the bout should prove to be little more than a glorified training session for Arthur.

Arthur does need a confidence booster however after two defeats in his last five, including one in 2009 to little-fancied Nigel Wright. Whilst Alex’s best days may be behind him, he dreams of working his way back towards a world title and if he is to have any chance of an unlikely shot at one of the belts, then he must impress here. Arthur shouldn’t have any problems with the Georgian and a stoppage before the sixth round seems likely. If Arthur does have trouble, or is unable to put Vakhtangashvili away then it may well signal the end of the Scotsman’s in-ring career.

Kenny Anderson also features on the card and gets a stay-busy fight against Sheffield’s Lee Duncan. Anderson might have been wondering “what if?” after seeing George Groves take the British and Commonwealth titles away from Olympic gold medalist James DeGale earlier this year. Only six months prior to the Groves-DeGale clash, Anderson had Groves down and in serious trouble, before seemingly running out of gas and being rescued by the ref in the sixth.

Since the Groves fight, Anderson has only fought once, a straightforward four-round stoppage win over Irishman Joe Rea. Lee Duncan, at only 22, has already taken on the journeyman tag and shouldn’t prove too much trouble for Anderson. His last fight saw him lose clearly on points to Callum Johnson, who was competing in only his third pro fight. Whist Duncan has only been stopped once in compiling his 4-6-2 record, he hasn’t been in with anyone as good or as heavy-handed as Anderson, so expect to see Anderson force a stoppage inside the first four rounds.

Also on the card is Jason Hastie, an Edinburgh based featherweight with a 7-1 record. Hastie was the favorite to win the Scottish featherweight title earlier in the year in a clash with the decent James Ancliff, but retired after five rounds. Hastie will be looking to regain his confidence with a decisive win against journeyman Jon Baguley who comes into the bout with a 9-20-1 record. Although on paper it looks like a straightforward nights work for Hastie, Baguely does boast a stoppage win over a then undefeated Vinny Mitchell in one of the big shocks of 2010. Hastie, however, should manage to come through a few scares in the early rounds to take this 6 rounder clearly on points. 

'There will be Fireworks' takes place on Saturday 27th August at the Meadowbank Sports Centre, Edinburgh. Boxing starts at 6.30pm. Tickets start at £25 and are available from the Meadowbank Centre - 0131 661 5351.