Unbeaten Commonwealth light heavyweight titleholder Lyndon “King” Arthur (17-0, 12 KOs) won a twelve round unanimous decision over Dec Spelman (16-4, 8 KOs) on Friday night at BT Sport Studio in London. Spelman pressed the action, but was outboxed by Arthur, who landed the better punches. Scores were 116-112, 116-113, 119-109.
Other Results
Nick Ball W8 Jerome Campbell (super featherweight)
Caoimhin Agyarko TKO9 Jez Smith (middleweight)
Brad Strand W4 Brett Fidoe (super bantamweight)
Andrew Cain TKO3 Ed Harrison (featherweight)
Arthur won the fight with his jab alone. Of course, he had help from Spelman who was not really a threat all night. Spelman was slow on his feet, his attack was predictable, and he was also slow with his punches. He often forgot to move his head and took a lot of jabs right on the button.
Arthur had a tight defense and just moved to the side forcing Spelman to keep resetting his feet to throw. It was a great defensive tactic because he kept punching while moving while Spelman was throwing shots that glanced off the gloves or the head most of the time
Spelman made a tactical mistake by headhunting all night. He also did what Teddy Atlas always preached against. He would throw one or two punches and then wait for the receipt. The receipt got him a bruised face and a bloody nose.
Arthur wasn’t really tested tonight. He didn’t really punch hard most of the time, but his shots had leverage and he was consistent with his jab all fight long. Spelman was just outclassed. Arthur looks ready to take on the best in the division at this point. He does have a large frame for the division and can probably move up to cruiserweight easily. That may be sooner rather than later because he reportedly had trouble making the light heavyweight limit.