Jamie Arthur is looking to realise a dream and claim the British featherweight title from Martin Lindsay on Friday night.
Ring ace fulfilling lifelong dream when challenging for Lindsay's title
Jamie Arthur is looking to realise a dream and claim the British featherweight title from Martin Lindsay on Friday night.
The Welshman will be fulfilling a lifelong dream when he challenges for Lindsay's (15-0) title at Leigh Indoor Sports Village,
live on Sky Sports.
The 30-year-old, who has a 16-2 record as a professional, has been boxing for more than 20 years after he was bullied as a child.
He recalled: "I moved from Scotland to Wales when I was four-years-old, but being Scottish and ginger made me a target for bullies.
Picked on
"I was picked on daily by a group of boys who lived down the road.
"When I was nine I decided to do something about it and found a boxing gym. For the first month I didn't tell my parents I was there."
Arthur went on to win several national boxing titles, as well as playing football for Wales at schoolboy level.
He had to choose between the two sports and plumped for a career in the ring, a decision that paid off handsomely when he went on to win a gold medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
He then quit boxing in July 2005 following consecutive losses but returned after almost three years out and is now on a seven-fight winning streak.
Choice
Arthur added: "I had to make a choice between boxing and football. I went with my heart. Boxing is what I excelled at and I believe I made the right choice.
"Winning gold for Wales at the Commonwealth Games was by far one of my best moments so far, but beating Lindsay would even top that.
"I have been boxing for more than 20 years, but winning a major professional title against Lindsay is something so special."
Belfast's Lindsay, 27, will be making his first defence of the title he won against Scot Paul Appleby last year.
Also on the bill will be Olympic bronze medallist David Price and British flyweight champion Shinny Bayaar, as well as ex-British bantamweight champion Gary Davies.
