Lyndon Arthur - The Best Jab In Boxing?

Lyndon Arthur Defeated Anthony Yarde on Saturday night at Westminster’s Church House by split decision to retain his commonwealth light heavyweight title. Lyndon Arthur who was a massive underdog for the fight used his jab superbly and amazing footwork to remain unbeaten in eighteen fights with twelve knockouts to his name.

We thoroughly loved the nights boxing and we were treated to another great evening of boxing from Frank Warren after the Joyce and Dubois fight, what a great show they put on.

Dedicated Win

It was great to see that Arthur dedicated the fight to his late older brother Zennen, who was killed in a gangland shooting in Manchester. Arthur himself could of gone the wrong way but instead put hard work into boxing perfecting his craft at Collyhurst and Moston ABC

Injury In Warm Up?

It was rumoured that during the fight warm up Arthur injured his right hand throwing an uppercut, which straight after the fight the boxer denied. Arthur mainly used his jab throughout the fight with some great footwork always getting out the way of danger until the last round. Arthurs jab was relentless and Yarde is getting heavily criticised for not putting enough pressure on Arthur, the jab must of had some serious power in the keep Yarde at bay?

Only Four Right Hands Thrown?

Throughout the fight Arthur only really threw four right hands relying on his explosive jab, indicating that he had some kind of issue with his hand and in the ninth round Tunde Ajayi realised this instructing his boxer to exert more pressure, and as soon as he did Arthur threw his best right hand of the night landing flush on Yarde which in my opinion bought Arthur a few more rounds until Yarde managed to get on the inside on the twelfth round but it was to little to late.

Unbelievable Jab

For me Arthur’s jab was on of the best we have seen from a British boxer, I used to love watching George Groves and David Haye’s jab. This jab was like lightening and sometimes was doubled up but never followed with the right. Who can you remember having a better jab than this?

Amateur Experience

Arthur had around fifty amateur fights and for me this was the difference in the fight Yarde had twelve amateur fight with eleven knockouts and one loss which is an unbelievable record but obviously forty fights less than what Arthur had and for me it showed.

Closing The Distance

The problem for Yarde was every time he tried to get beyond Arthur’s reach he was met with this ramrod jab and then Arthur would move his feet again into the space, so Yarde had to try again. Yarde was very patient maybe due to the fact he tried to get Kovelev out of there early and possible gassed out, he did not want to make the same mistake again.

Yarde Angry

Yarde was absolutely gutted he had lost the fight and thought he had done enough to win claiming he landed the better punches which he possibly did, but it is not enough to win you a fight when you are getting out jabbed? Yarde also had a problem stating the support swayed the fight as Arthur had more supporters and this influenced the judges decision, he had two people supporting him while Arthur had five, this really did not influence the decision and I think the judges made the right choice.

Rematch

There was a rematch clause in the contract and as both fighters are with Frank Warren this fight should be very easy to make.

Conclusion

The second fight will be a different fight for two reasons Yarde knows what he needs to next time i.e get closer and let his hands go more I do not think he could ever outbox Arthur. If Arthur did have a problem with his right hand, this fight he will have two healthy hands so it will also be much harder for Yarde.

Could you imagine the mental strength of Arthur going into the fight knowing he only had a jab, to me boxers are a different breed of people.

All Winners

For me this was probably my favourite fight of the year I know some people love punch ups where the fight swings in many directions with knockdowns but I really like the technical side of boxing so for me a jab like Arthur’s along with his footwork wins every time. I would love to see Lyndon Arthur have a world title fight soon and England could possible have another world champion.