Clydebank’s Gary is just Champion by Tom Walker May 3rd 2007

Gary McArthur picked up what is hoped to be the first of more title belts last Saturday the 28th April in a packed to capacity “Playdrome”. There's no doubt that these smaller venues do have a unique, some would say, intimidating atmosphere. The Playdrome was one such place, though I'm equally sure the visiting boxers were totally un-fazed by it despite their apparent lack of support in the raucous crowd. The show opened up with Furhan Rafiq 9st 2lb of Glasgow taking a tutorial from “Professor” Peter Buckley 10st 4lb over the 6 x 2mins session. Rafiq has a vociferous fan base which follows him and they're in evidence tonight as Rafiq opens up with some tidy combinations from the double jab and right cross, but alas this is all too infrequent. He (Rafiq) is too tentative, while Buckley is calmness personified. The “Professor” expects his students to work during their tutorial, and young Rafiq should have realised this, his work in the 3rd was more like what is expected, but it is still in flurries as opposed constant. His hooks are a tad slappy too, which may raise expectations at the back of the hall but not the referee who's scoring, Kenny Pringle. Professor Buckley shows his student what he can do in the 5th, and Rafiq responds to the prompt. The inevitable points win was duly confirmed in the end, but the score of 58 - 56 shows that Furhan needed to be more aggressive and take the fight to Professor Buckley instead of waiting so long before each rally, Buckley would have welcomed it I suspect, as with his record he's seen it all before and is still unmarked in a hard profession. Bout two of the five bout show was between Paul Burns 10st 9lb and Bristol's Danny Gwilym 10st 3lb again over 6 x 2mins, this time with Paul Graham refereeing. Burns is much taller than the Bristol boxer and he's a southpaw to boot! This combination is to his advantage as he's catching Gwilym with almost unerring accuracy despite the dipping to lessen the target from Gwilym. He (Gwilym) is becoming frustrated in the 3rd as he's caught by a succession of heavy lefts from the southpaw. Burn's is improving with every bout, but he still holds his chin a wee bit high for my liking, and is if to prove it Gwilym catches him in the 4th. The frustration is leading to him to fairly wild shots which fortunately for Burns are falling short, as they look heavy and are certainly fast The last round sees Gwilym on the canvas for an eight count, despite his protest that it was a slip, he knew as much as the rest of us that it was a hook which caught him sweetly. The final score of 60 – 53 was correct and Burns was always in control. Newarthill's Paul “Charlie” King 10st took to the ring with Birmingham's Amir Nadi 10st 1lb in another 6 x 2mins session. The opener had some sharp exchanges with King shading it with his more accurate work. King's combinations are fast enough to make Nadi grasp him round the head like a shepherd's crook on enough occasions I thought for a warning, but he doesn't and nor does he like the attention his mid-riff is getting from King. Nadi runs progressively out of steam and ideas, which delights the large travelling support from Lanarkshire for the winner on a 60 – 54 decision, Charlie King. Ryan Brawley 9st 6lbs from Irvine is a slick moving southpaw and he needed all his movement and skill to foil Rom Kriauklis 9st 8lbs of Riga in Latvia over 8 x 2mins as Kriauklis was no respecter of either Brawley's burgeoning reputation or his silky skills. There's chants of “Easy Easy” from Brawley's fans, but they're not in the ring and it isn't easy with Kriauklis's winging heavy looking shots which Brawley is doing well to stay clear of. The 2nd round has the Latvian indulge in a spot of “Greco/Roman” wrestling with Brawley to disupt the Ayrshireman's higher skill factor. In fact it appears that Kriauklis' only tactic in the bout is to put Brawley off his stride even although it is negative for the punters. Had he got home with one of his wilder shots then the applecart might have been turned over, in any event he didn't and it (the applecart) was still on its wheels at the end. Brawley's boxing is a joy to watch and his combinations are fast and furious if a bit light in weight. The score of 78 – 73 might be flattering to the man from Riga, but it is still another notch on Brawley's unbeaten slate. Victor Loughlin is the man in charge for the vacant British Masters lightweight title over 10 x 3mins between local hero Gary McArthur 9st 7.5lbs and Calne's Chris Long at 9st 8 & 3/4lbs which has an atmosphere which is tangible to the neutrals (of which there can't be many). McArthur is spearing his southpaw right jab into the fairly static head of Long in the opener, which he takes with more ease than I'd anticipated. There's only sporadic resistance coming from the man from Wiltshire as he looks discomfitted by the range and quality of shots coming from McArthur, and early on in the bout it looked like a procession. However, fair play to Long, he stuck with it in the face of overwhelming odds. This was McArthur at his best, boxing with style, fluidity and no small amount of panache. In the other code (amateurs) this would have been RSCO'd such was the quality of punches and quantity from the Clydebank boxer. In a previous article on him I said he won't be getting too many early nights as his work whilst ultra smooth and a joy for the purist to watch is lacking some weight behind it. From the 7th round on though, Long began to catch up with McArthur and despite his handsome lead by then, McArthur had to do well to keep out of trouble. He did this comfortably to send his fans into raptures with his points victory of 98 – 94. McArthur then picks up his first belt, and is a treat to watch as a boxing fan, for whom skill is always appreciated. The fans poured out into the cold night air in Clydebank to recharge their alcohol levels and celebrate.

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