Martin Lindsay decisions Jamie Arthur and other Friday results

In Lancashire, Martin Lindsay scored a decision over Jamie Arthur in a fight for the British featherweight title.  The final scores were 118-108, 117-110, 119-108, all in favor of Lindsay.

Overall, the fight was entertaining.  While Lindsay was the more accurate puncher and landed the more telling shots, Arthur never stopped coming forward and kept throwing punches.  Lindsay used his superior defensive ability to block or avoid most of the shots, and land a number of hard counter shots. 

In the second round, Lindsay knocked down Arthur twice.  Undeterred, he came forward and quite possibly won a few of the next few rounds by putting constant pressure on the sturdy Belfast fighter.  However, as the fight wore on, Lindsay's conditioning, together with harder and more accurate punching, prevailed.

This was the first defense of Lindsay's title and he would need two more wins to keep his Lonsdale belt; however, I'd be very interested in seeing him on a wider stage.  With his accurate punching and tricky defensive style, I could see him giving problems to a number of fighters on the fringes of the featherweight top 10, even if he probably doesn't have the sheer talent to take on someone like Yuriorkis Gamboa or Chris John.  In the post-fight interview, new promoter Frank Maloney stated that they would eye the European title, but that first and foremost they want to keep Lindsay busy.  This was only Lindsay's 16th fight as a professional in six years, and at 27 years old, he's no kid.

• On the undercard, Gary Davies knocked down Andy Bell twice en route to a first round knockout over Bell, in a bantamweight bout between two former British titlists.  Also on the undercard, 6'8" U.K. Olympian David Price scored a first round TKO over Martyn Grainger in a farce of a fight where Grainger didn't even try.  Price landed three punches.  The first body shot knocked Grainger down.  After the second one, he took a knee, and the referee stopped the fight.  It was an absolutely pathetic display, and Price gets an official win to move to 6-0.
• In Belgium, Randall Bailey knocked Jackson Bonsu out in the first round, winning the #2 position in the IBF welterweight rankings.  After the fight, promoter Lou DiBella stated that Bailey would be looking for the biggest money fight possible.
• On Friday Night Fights, Sechew Powell won a majority decision over Deandre Latimore in a revenge match.  Powell is now the IBF mandatory in the light middleweight division. 
• Thursday morning, Shane Cameron bounced back from his destruction at the hands of David Tua by defeating John Hopoate.  Hopoate, a former rugby player mostly known for his dirty tactics, let those tactics carry over, and lost by disqualification after he made it apparent that he'd rather fight in a wrestling match than a boxing match.