COMEBACK kid Jamie Arthur says he’s returned to the ring after more than three years in retirement for two reasons – to build his parents a house and to finally win a British title belt.
The Cwmbran boxer won lightweight gold as an amateur for Wales at the 2002 Commonwealth Games before claiming the Welsh super-featherweight and Commonwealth super-bantamweight titles as a pro.
But, before he last quit the sport in 2012 to concentrate on training the next generation of talent, Arthur fought for and lost three British titles.
He lost a unanimous points decision to Martin Lindsay for the featherweight belt in 2010.
And he twice fought for the super-bantamweight title, losing a split decision to Jason Booth in 2011 and suffering a technical knockout after sustaining a bad cut against Scott Quigg in February 2012.
That was his last fight before coming out of retirement to beat Croatian Antonio Horvatic over six rounds at super-featherweight at the Newport Centre last week.
He admits to a few nerves before he entered the ring but the 35-year-old is determined to finally get his hands on a Lonsdale belt – as well as getting his hands dirty with a spot of building work for his parents.
After a routine win, complete with his regular cut to the head, Arthur told the Argus: “In the changing room beforehand I was scared to death and I was thinking ‘what the hell am I doing here?’
“It’s a funny feeling; I’ve been fighting since I was nine but I sold a lot of tickets for this and a lot of people came to support me.
“It was nerve-racking because it’s been such a long time.
“In the first round I didn’t think I boxed to my ability but after the second I boxed the way I should be boxing.
“I cut myself because I always drop my head and clash with my opponents but I’m working with my trainer Chris Davies to try to get out of that habit.
“I’ve got the ring-rust out of the way now and hopefully I'll get out as regular as possible now, work up the rankings and see how far I can get.
“Before I had to fight for financial reasons but I’ve got a good job now and I don’t need the money,” he added.
“But I do want to build my mum and dad a house. They’re getting old now and I want to build them somewhere to live on my land so they don’t have to worry about debts.
“And the other reason is I want to win the British title.
“I boxed for it three times and it’s down to me to win it on the fourth occasion.”
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