Alex Arthur will not be fighting Robbie Peden in an IBF super-featherweight title eliminator after his handler Frank Warren failed to reach an agreement with the Australian’s promoter Dan Goossen.
American based Goossen said, “Two weeks ago Alex Arthur decided to pull out of a possible elimination fight. We were keen on the fight going on in Australia but we would also have done it in England if the opportunity presented itself but for whatever reason they weren’t interested.”
Goossen is now negotiating for Peden to face Bobby Pacquiao instead and according to an IBF statement the Philippine has accepted the challenge. Goossen also hopes that Arthur’s trainer Wayne McCullough will make his return to the ring on 1st September.
South Africa’s Cassius Baloyi makes his first defence of the IBF super-featherweight title against Australian based Guyanan Gairy St Clair on 29th July.
Pacquiao was previously scheduled to face Mexico’s Humberto Soto in an eliminator for the WBC super-featherweight title in Las Vegas on 12th August but has now agreed to face Peden.
Contrary to Goossen’s understanding of the situation Arthur said he was “devastated” when informed that the bout would not be taking place and fancied his chances of stopping Peden.
“I’ve noticed that he has had a big weight advantage over most of his opponents but that wouldn’t be the case with myself so I was looking forward to stepping on top of him and I thought I had all the capabilities to do that,” said Arthur.
“I’m really disappointed but I guess you’ve just got to get on with your career. I believe I’m fighting on the 28th October in London and it could possibly be a defence of my European title.”
According to the European Boxing Union’s website Arthur will make a voluntary defence of his European title against Spain’s undefeated Sergio Palomo at the York Hall on 8th September.
Arthur, who also holds the Commonwealth 130 lbs belt, is currently using a mobile eye-tracking equipment service to track and enhance his boxing technique. The device from Activity, Interaction and Usability Limited (AIU), is lightweight and can be worn without connection to other computer hardware while capturing the overall view and the moment by moment focus of the wearer with two miniature cameras and puts one image on top of the other with a cross-hair.
The Edinburgh man added, “It’s an amazing device, really high-tech stuff and it’s fantastic for your accuracy. The tests show my accuracy has improved by 65% since I started using it, which is huge.
“I targeted a very small rubber ball attached to a speedball which was moving really fast but I was able to hit it every time so it’s definitely working. It’s like a really good toy, better than a Playstation.”
AIU managing director Karl Smith said in a press release, “In the case of a boxer like Alex Arthur we can see if he is hitting the targets he plans to hit. Mobile eye-tracking and AIU analysis can assist any athlete or sportsman who requires fine tuning in their targeting and coordination skills”
