McCullough: Arthur was 'too fit too soon'

Alex Arthur peaked too soon in preparation for the defence of his super-featherweight British, Commonwealth and European titles against Ricky Burns at Meadowbank – according to his new trainer Wayne McCullough.

Former WBC bantamweight champion McCullough, now based in Las Vegas, has not yet retired, but he is gradually embarking on a new career at ringside and put Arthur through his paces for a month in the home of boxing over Christmas.

He insists Arthur, who weighed in dead on the 9st 4lbs limit, worked so hard in America that he had to put the brakes on his training schedule when he arrived back in Edinburgh.

“You don’t have to tell Alex what to do – he goes from the bags to the ball to the ropes,” said McCullough.

“He loves training, and I have to say to him: ‘Okay Alex, that’s enough’. But he wants to learn and keep learning and will say ‘Just a little more’.”

Arthur wasted little time showing McCullough what he could do.

“Alex had no trouble at sparring and dropped a highly-rated Canadian kid the first day they sparred,” he recalled.

“He was putting the punches together over there, and speed is power. He was fit when he came over. But when he left Las Vegas he was just two pounds over the weight limit … he was too fit too soon.

“He slowed down a bit when he came back – but now he has picked up again and is ready to go.”

The Belfast-born fighter admits Arthur had a less intimidating time in the American boxing gyms than he did when he himself moved to Las Vegas in 1992.

He said: “I went from the greenery to the desert. I was scared going into the gym; I was the only white guy among all black guys. It was like a ‘Rocky’ movie.

“There’s more white guys now – some Russians and so on – but it’s still working-class guys trying to make their way up.

“When I went to America I never had a fight arranged but I was sparring with some of the best champions in the world.

“I watched guys like Mike McCallum and I sparred with Eddie Cook, who was a former bantamweight champion. You can only get better from training with boxers like that.”