Arthur’s Paisley “Buddy” by Tom Walker Jul 5th 2007

The good folk of Paisley are colloquially known as the “Buddies”, and one of them has turned out to be a real one for Alex Arthur, after his loss of two sparring partners of the southpaw variety, and Arthur is impressed with his new found buddy. Alex Arthur has tipped Stephen Russell to take the British super-bantamweight scene by storm after the Paisley youngster answered his SOS call for a sparring partner. Edinburgh's Arthur is only two weeks away from the most important bout of his 25-fight career in Cardiff where he will take on Koba Gogoladze for the WBO interim super-featherweight title. However, 19-year-old southpaw Russell impressed Arthur with his technical skills and natural ability. Arthur said: “Stephen is one of the best southpaws I've seen in a long time and he has a lot of talent. “Stephen is a natural and is definitely one to watch for the future. He's also very brave - I've injured my last two sparring partners, but Stephen still came through to my training base at Meadowbank Sports Centre to spar with me.” Russell, who has won all three of his contests thus far, is keen to learn as much as possible in his early days in the pro ranks and plans to structure his training in a similar manner to the scientific regime adopted by Arthur. Russell said: “Sparring with Alex has been a really good experience for me. Alex has had a lot more fights than I have and he's also a few weight divisions above me, but I wasn't overawed. “Sharing a ring with guys like Alex, who is going to fight for a world title, will only help me improve. He also gave me some training and diet tips which I'll be taking on board. “It's not even a full year since I turned pro, but I'm always looking for new ways to improve my fitness and monitor my diet. Alex has his weight and fitness levels checked regularly by sports scientists and that's the sort of approach I'm looking to take to ensure that I will one day be challenging for a world title.” Russell will have his next fight in his hometown on Braveheart Promotions show at the Paisley Ice Rink on September 14. Joining him on the bill will be fellow Buddies Kevin McIntyre and pro debutant Kris Carslaw.

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