By Geoff Poundes
Scott Quigg marched on in his quest for a world title shot tonight when he eventually out-worked and out-punched the game but overpowered Welshman, Jamie Arthur, in Bolton, England tonight.
Quigg (24-0, 17 KOs) defended his British super-bantam title in decent style, despite suffering a flash knockdown in the fourth round, and will now be looking to Europe and beyond, possibly starting with an attractive looking match with fellow Englishman and former world title challenger Rendall Munroe, who also posted a win on Quigg’s undercard this evening.
Arthur (24-6, 4 KOs) is always competitive and started fast in the fight, taking two of the first three rounds, and then landing a left hand in the fourth that had the British champion down heavily. Quigg got to his feet quickly, then took a knee quite sensibly, and from that moment he took the fight to Arthur and was clearly too quick and strong for his challenger. The end came in the ninth in bizarre fashion. Quigg dug in a vicious left hook to Arthur’s body, and the Welshman wheeled around 360 degrees clutching his ribs, while referee Mark Green jumped in immediately and stopped the fight. It was a ridiculous stoppage, even if the outcome of the fight was no longer in question.
Arthur may now consider whether it’s time to put his gloves away for good, while Quigg will be watching Nonito Donaire’s skirmish later tonight on the other side of the world with renewed interest.
Another who will have an eye on Donaire is Rendall Munroe, who earlier in the night dispatched Argentinian Jose Saez with little fuss when the visitor folded in the first round. Saez took a count when Munroe’s first left hook landed after 12 seconds, and then got into some exchanges before another left hook, this time to the body, folded him against the ropes and the referee called the fight off. Munroe (24-2, 10 KOs), has had one tilt at a world title, losing widely to Japanese WBC champ Toshiaki Nishioka two years ago, and may see Quigg as a necessary obstacle en route to another shot.
Also on the undercard, 25-year-old Joe Murray (12-0, 5 KOs), brother of recent world lightweight contender John Murray, continued his education in the featherweight division when he out-scored journeyman opponent Jose Luis Graterol over eight rounds. Murray had been out of the ring for eight months for various reasons, and took his time to settle against his Venezualan foe. Graterol (14-12, 5 KOs), has spent the last twelve months bouncing around European rings looking for pay cheques, and took the fight on a week’s notice, so he did well to keep things competitive and make it to the final bell.
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