by James Slater -Yesterday evening, in Glasgow Scotland, Edinburgh’s former interim WBO super-featherweight champion “Amazing” Alex Arthur made short work of 34-year-old Frenchman Mohamed Benbiou, as he stopped the visiting fighter in just 1-minute and 33-seconds of the very first round. Returning to the ring after a nine month break that followed his losing fight with Nicky Cook, 30-year-old Arthur made his debut up at lightweight..
After having struggled mightily to make 130-pounds in the past, Arthur believes he will be much stronger up at 135, and that he can win a world title there. Last night’s win proved very little along those lines, however, with Benbiou in trouble even before the sound of the first bell had faded. Knocked down three times in all, the 34-year-old was stopped with a left hand to the body after just over 90-seconds of action. Arthur is now 27-2(20). Benbiou is now 15-15(8).
Immediately going to his opponent’s body, Arthur had Benbiou in trouble almost instantly. After being hurt by a barrage of shots to both body and head, Benbiou was sent down by a shot that caught him on top of the head. Down again seconds later, this time as a result of a left hand to the body and the follow up shots that clipped him, it was clear the French journeyman was not going to last. The third and final knockdown was the result of a fine left hand that smacked into Benbiou’s ribs. Upon seeing Benbiou down for a third time the third man in the ring waved the fight off without administering a count.
Maybe Arthur could have done with a much stiffer test in his first fight in almost a year and in his debut in the new weight class, but after the tough fights he’s been in in the past Arthur probably deserved a nice easy one. One thing is sure, there will be much tougher nights in the future for the Edinburgh man if he’s to achieve his goal of fighting for and winning a world title at 135-pounds.
Speaking post-fight, a smiling Arthur said he is glad to be back, and that he is in no big rush to box for his second world title.
“This is where I belong,” Arthur said when asked if he was glad to be back in the ring. “I feel better at lightweight. If anyone knew what I had to go through to make [super-feather] weight. I want to get back in title contention now. I’m happy to take my time. I’m a young 30-years-of-age. Hopefully I’ll be going for a world title some time next year.”
Arthur against the likes of Edwin Valero, the winner of the upcoming Yuri Romanov-Fernando Angulo clash or maybe even Amir Khan, would be most interesting.