Bobby Arthur (25 July 1947 – 27 July 2023) was a British boxer who was national

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

champion between 1972 and 1973.

Career

From

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

, Bobby Arthur had a successful amateur career, including representing

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and winning a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

at welterweight at the

1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 4 to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions. The event was followed by the 1966 Commonweal ...

, in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. He made his professional debut in March 1967 with a win over Pat Walsh. He won his first 14 fights, before suffering his first defeat in November 1969 to former British

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

champion Maurice Cullen. He won only two of seven fights in 1970 but a win over Ernest Musso in May 1971 started a run of three wins which led to a fight against John H. Stracey in October 1972 for the vacant British welterweight title at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

. Stracey was disqualified in the seventh round for punching after the referee had called a break, giving Arthur the title. Arthur and Stracey met again for the title at the same venue in June 1973; This time Stracey was the winner via a fourth-round knockout. Arthur then moved up to

light middleweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in boxing but also may include other combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the Intern ...

to face Larry Paul for the newly created British title in September 1973. Paul knocked Arthur out in the tenth round to take the title. Arthur was out of the ring for over a year, returning with a loss to Jeff Gale in December 1974. He continued until late 1976 but only won three more fights.

Death

Bobby Arthur died from lung cancer in Coventry on 27 July 2023, just after his 76th birthday.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arthur, Bobby 1947 births 2023 deaths English male boxers Welterweight boxers Light-middleweight boxers Boxers at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Medallists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Boxers from Coventry Commonwealth Games silver medallists in boxing