50 Facts About Jamie Arthur

Jamie Arthur was born on 17 December 1979 and is a former professional boxer.

Jamie Arthur was selected to represent Wales at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester in the men's lightweight division.

Jamie Arthur turned professional in 2003 and won his first nine bouts, but persistent cut injuries and two consecutive defeats led to his retirement in 2005.

Jamie Arthur returned to boxing in 2008 and won the Welsh area super-featherweight title in his second fight before progressing to an unsuccessful British title fight against Martin Lindsay.

Jamie Arthur competed in the Prizefighter series in May 2010 at super-bantamweight but was eliminated in the semi-final.

Jamie Arthur fought Scott Quigg in 2012 but suffered a stoppage defeat.

Jamie Arthur fought once more in 2015 before retiring, ending his career with a record of 19 wins and 6 defeats.

Jamie Arthur was born in Aberdeen in Scotland to Betty and Gordon Jamie Arthur.

The family moved to Wales when Jamie Arthur was four years old and he grew up in Cwmbran.

Jamie Arthur took up boxing after being bullied by a group of boys who lived in his street and began attending a local gym near his school from the age of nine.

Jamie Arthur was a keen footballer as a child and represented Wales at schoolboy level before giving up the game to devote his time to his boxing career.

Jamie Arthur was named in the Welsh boxing squad for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester in the lightweight division, while still working as a scaffolder.

Jamie Arthur defeated Scotland's Mark Hastie and Lesotho's Koloba Sehloho in the opening rounds on points before stopping Adnan Jusoh of Malaysia in the quarter-final.

Jamie Arthur overcame Jusoh in two rounds after moving 15 points ahead on the judges' scorecard which results in an immediate stoppage in an amateur bout.

Ahead of the bout, there were doubts over whether Jamie Arthur would be able to compete due to the cut he had sustained in his semi-final, but he was eventually cleared by a doctor one hour before the fight was due to start.

Jamie Arthur struggled in the opening two rounds of the bout before gaining control in the third round to establish a three-point lead.

Jamie Arthur later remarked that his plan was to score as many points as he could quickly in case the referee stopped the fight due to his injury.

Jamie Arthur turned professional in 2003 with promoter Frank Warren, having initially made plans to continue fighting as an amateur in order to compete at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

Jamie Arthur commented that the lack of funding provided by the Welsh Amateur Boxing Association had influenced his decision, although this was rebutted by the organisation's chairman.

Jamie Arthur won a further four bouts in the final four months of 2003 after returning to original trainer Chris Manley of the Coed Eva club after his second bout.

Jamie Arthur was due to fight Mger Mkrtchyan in February 2004 but was forced to withdraw after a cut he had sustained in his victory over Wallie, which had required 15 stitches, had been slow to heal.

In July 2004, Jamie Arthur faced a significantly more experienced opponent in former French super-bantamweight champion Frederic Bonifai.

Jamie Arthur defeated Bonifai on points and recorded a similar victory over Buster Dennis two months later.

In January 2005, Jamie Arthur met Haider Ali after a four-month break due to sustaining another cut.

Jamie Arthur suffered his first professional defeat after the referee stopped the bout due to a severe cut that Arthur had sustained from a clash of heads.

Jamie Arthur returned in July 2005 working under new coach Enzo Calzaghe, but suffered a second consecutive defeat against Harry Ramogaodi after being knocked down three times despite breaking his opponents' jaw during the bout.

Jamie Arthur's defeat led to him being released from his contract with Warren's promotion company.

In September 2005, Jamie Arthur announced his retirement from boxing at the age of 25 due to his ongoing cut issues and having struggled to support his family financially.

Jamie Arthur commented "the enjoyment hasn't been there for the last 18 months, so when you're not enjoying something it's time to make a change" and announced plans to become an amateur trainer.

Jamie Arthur opened an amateur gym in Newport in 2007 and worked as a trainer for 18 months.

Jamie Arthur announced a return fight for April 2008 against Ghanaian Mettle Ayitey.

Jamie Arthur dominated the fight to record his first victory since 2004 and stated that his ultimate aim on returning was to secure a British title.

Jamie Arthur began 2009 with victories over Youssef al-Hamidi and Andrey Kostin in February and March respectively.

Jamie Arthur's five-fight winning streak resulted in him facing undefeated Akaash Bhatia in an eliminator to become the number one contender for the British title.

The 10-round fight finished with Jamie Arthur being named the winner by a single point and was later nominated for the British fight of the year award.

Jamie Arthur secured a British featherweight title fight against unbeaten Martin Lindsay following his victory over Bhatia.

Against Lindsay, Jamie Arthur lost the bout by unanimous decision after being knocked down twice and suffering a cut in the 11th round.

Jamie Arthur had pledged to retire from the sport if he lost his British title fight, but in May 2010 he was offered the chance to join the Prizefighter series, a knockout tournament organised by Sky Sports consisting of three-round bouts held on the same night, at super bantamweight.

Jamie Arthur joined the competition with only 12 days notice to replace the injured Craig Lyon.

Jamie Arthur defeated Robbie Turley in his quarter-final before losing to the undefeated Ricky Owen in the semi-final.

Jamie Arthur was named as a surprise contender for the vacant Commonwealth super-bantamweight title against the undefeated Kris Taylor.

Jamie Arthur was deducted two points during the bout for low blows and suffered a cut, but still went on to win a points decision to claim his first major title.

Jamie Arthur caused a surprise by knocking the unbeaten Quigg down in the fourth round, however the referee called a halt to the fight after Quigg landed several heavy body blows to Jamie Arthur in the eighth round.

Jamie Arthur was upset with the stoppage, stating that the shots had caught him off balance and he was fine to continue.

Jamie Arthur retired again after the bout, opening his own gym in Rhydyfelin in Pontypridd and coaching Newport-based fighter Bradley Pryce.

Jamie Arthur made a brief return in 2015 to fight Antonio Horvatic at the Newport Centre.

Jamie Arthur returned again hoping to challenge for a British title and defeated Horvatic on points.

Jamie Arthur was forced to withdraw from a bout in early 2016, never fighting at a professional level again.

Alongside his boxing career, Jamie Arthur enrolled on a sports studies course through the University of Wales in 2003.

Jamie Arthur's wife Karen is a horse trainer and Arthur has often trained alongside the animals when preparing for fights.