Scottish Amateur And Professional Boxing
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It looks like it is going to be one of those years for Scottish boxing.
We've already seen Steve Foster Jr pull out of a mouth watering British title eliminator against John Simpson to fight for the WBU Featherweight crown. Charlie Shepherd never crossed the border to test Gary Young. And lack of money on the table and the flu meant that Willie Limond didn't face the now dethroned WBU Super Featherweight champion, Michael Gomez.
And now the politics of boxing are threatening to pull the plug on the biggest fight between two Scottish boxers since Ken Buchanan beat Jim Watt back in 1973.
The fight was originally scheduled for the 18th of March at the Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, with promoter Barry Hearns in association with Tommy Gilmour winning the right to stage the fight. That was good news for Craig Docherty, who fights out of the Gilmour stable, because it gave him home advantage.
Just over a week ago however, Arthur's promoter and manager Frank Warren threatened to withdraw his boxer from the contest, telling The Scotsman, "I'm really also annoyed that there have been no press conferences so far to publicise the fight and sell tickets. Unless I hear from either Tommy Gilmour or Barry Hearn that the fight is definitely going ahead then I plan to withdraw Alex Arthur from the bout."
On Monday, Tommy Gilmour called a press conference to announce that the date of the fight had been moved to the 9th of April with the venue remaining the Kelvin Hall and tickets to go on sale at the end of the month.
This seemed to be news to the Alex Arthur camp, with the Edinburgh boxer himself saying, "It means I have to revamp my whole training schedule. However, I have spoken to my own promoters, Sports Network, and they have told me they know nothing about any switch to the 9th of April."
Now Frank Warren has lodged an appeal with the British Boxing Board Of Control, claiming that the original contract terms citing the 18th of March have been broken. If upheld at the BBBC meeting on Monday, then the fight could be awarded to the second highest purse bidder, Sports Network. And this in turn could see the venue shift to Edinburgh - if the Docherty camp agreed to the new terms.
Tommy Gilmour has said that the delay in Sports Network returning Alex Arthur's contract agreeing to the fight in the first place put the original date in jeopardy, and has called on Frank Warren not to sabotage what is Scotland's biggest fight of the year.
"Forget the politics here and let's get this fight on. Both boxers want the fight to happen and so does the Scottish boxing public."
Simon Block, the BBBC's General Secretary, has also called on both parties to settle their differences anmd allow the contest to take place. "I'm very sorry we find ourselves in this position regarding what is potentially a great contest. I'm concerned that if the fight does not go ahead, it will do immense damage to both boxers and to both Scottish and British boxing. With a little goodwill from both parties, we could reach an agreement."
On a more positive note, Craig Docherty has said that he wants to put his Commonwealth belt on the table when he fights Alex Arthur, saying that if he lost to Arthur he would relinquish the title anyway.
Posted by scottish-boxing at February 17, 2005 09:23 AM