Alex Arthur survived a late knockdown to retain his interim WBO super featherweight title after an amazing scrap against Stephen Foster jr.
Arthur gets up off the floor to outpoint gutsy Foster in Edinburgh.
'Amazing' Alex Arthur survived a late knockdown to just about retain his interim WBO super featherweight title after an amazing scrap against a gutsy Stephen Foster junior.
Despite a flying start from Manchester man Foster, Arthur crept into the fight and started to pick off his opponent, especially with his body shots.
As Foster started to look ragged, Arthur landed a punishing shot to the body in the ninth that forced the challenger to take a knee and an eight count.
Foster recovered well and, although he looked to be running on empty, he landed a big bomb in a pulsating 11th round that put Arthur on the floor.
Arthur hung on to survive the round though, and then the two men fought out a toe-to-toe brawl in the final round, ending a superb fight on a high.
A unanimous points verdict went the way of the interim champion Arthur, who won 114-111, 114-111 and 113-112 on the judges' scorecards.
Tempo
Foster started quickly and aggressively and probably took the opening rounds as he looked to bully Arthur, who looked sluggish amid concerns over making the weight again.
Round three saw some better work from Arthur, but Foster ended the round with a crunching right hand over the top.
Arthur started to get into the fight slowly though and the next couple of rounds went his way, before Foster had a point taken off for a headbutt in the sixth.
Foster was warned about his use of the head again in the eighth as he started to look a little ragged in his work in frustration at Arthur's growing presence in the fight.
Arthur showed his menace in the ninth when he caught Foster with a sickening body shot behind the ribs which forced the challenger onto his knee to take a count.
The Scot bossed the tenth and had his home crowd cheering as Foster looked all out of ideas and running low on gas.
Big shot
The 11th went the same way, until Foster dug deep to pull out a clubbing right hand which sent a wobbling Arthur down onto the canvas and through the ropes.
Somehow Arthur managed to get up and, despite a desperate Foster going all out for the win, he kept away and made it to the bell.
The final round saw both men trading blows and going toe-to-toe, with Foster now believing he could land a huge victory.
However, the fight went the distance and all three judges gave the fight to Arthur, who retained his interim WBO title.
