Lyndon Arthur vs Liam Cameron – Who wins and why?
Former IBO World light-heavyweight champion Lyndon Arthur (23-2, 16KO) aims to bounce back from defeat to Dmitry Bivol in his first fight of the year, live on Channel 5.
‘King’ Arthur heads straight back into a championship fight, contesting the WBA Inter-Continental title in a 10-round contest with Liam ‘Cannonball’ Cameron (23-5, 16KO) at the Bolton Whites Hotel on June 21.
Since losing the rematch to Anthony Yarde, via TKO4, Manchester’s Arthur won four in a row to become the IBO World light-heavyweight champ, which was the belt he conceded to the masterful Dmitry Bivol in Saudi Arabia, two days before Christmas last year.
The 12-round contest was so one-sided, all three judges scored it 120-107 to WBA Super titlist, Bivol who became unified that night by adding Arthur’s IBO belt.
Lyndon was a little subdued against one of the world’s pound-for-pound best; his tactics to sit back and survive seemed overly negative, dropped in the 11th, very nearly stopped in the 12th. The stats later showed that Bivol connected with 226 from 607 punches, while Arthur landed a mere 71.
Arthur is often known for taking the backfoot where he can flick out his swift jab, known as his best weapon, and also defends well from this position too. But he can be hit.
Way back in 2017, Cameron won the Commonwealth title on his second time of asking against the awkward Sam Sheedy. He defended it successfully to Brighton’s Nicky Jenman in 2018, but later failed a drug test, changing the TKO2 victory to a No Contest.
Liam was found with traces of cocaine in his urine, which he attributed to handling thousands of pounds of cash from ticket sales. He protested his innocence vehemently, even flying abroad to testify his innocence in a hearing, where he was handed a lengthy four-year ban from UKAD. He could have pleaded guilty for a lesser 16 months ban, but refused to make up a story that wasn’t true. His offence now carries a three-month sentence, so he was incredibly unlucky at the time.
Boxing from the age of eight, Cameron was lost without the sport and began drinking every day, once ending up in hospital after an apparent overdose. Then, his stepdaughter, Tiegen, was tragically killed in a road accident and he spiralled into depression and weight gain forced to wrestle with many demons, but he vowed to come back in her memory.
And so far, so good, with three straight wins in the last eight months after over four years out.
His last two outings ended via first-round KO, but he has only been up against journeymen, so Lyndon Arthur is going to be a huge leap up in levels.
Both boxers are aged 33 and have won championships, but Arthur has a height and reach advantage, plus his power is rated higher with a 69.57% KO ratio compared to Cameron’s 43.48%.
Arthur is the home fighter, Cameron the visitor. The ‘King’ has defeated Anthony Yarde over 12 rounds and has only lost to world level fighters, which Cameron is quite a way off from right now, and he has losses to the likes of Luke Blackledge and Zac Dunn.
Despite not showing any betting odds online for this fight at present, Arthur is the clear favourite to win, but after what he has been through, Cameron will be a formidable opponent spurred on by the memory of his beloved stepdaughter and eager to make the most of his moment in the spotlight.
His courageous comeback has already been an incredible achievement, so a win here will put the icing on the cake, and his motivation and determination will be at stratospheric levels.
Arthur may possess most of the advantages going into this contest, but he is up against one tough, tenacious contender, which should result in a captivating contest on Channel 5.
Prediction
Lyndon’s experience at the higher level, especially banking 12 rounds against one of the world’s pound-for-pound best, will be key to winning this fight.
Arthur has already beaten fighters that are a level above Cameron, such as Anthony Yarde, and his last three scalps have included Braian Nahuel Suarez, Boris Crighton and Joel McIntyre.
I believe he will be able to jab his way to a points decision, by utilising that sharp, snappy lead left of his, whilst being able to block and absorb most of what Cameron will have to offer.
He was able to withstand the ceaseless onslaught from Bivol, so he should be able to take whatever the ‘Canonball’ has to give, even though the Sheffield fighter appears to be a bit more heavier handed up at light-heavyweight.
A lot of shots got through from Bivol, but Arthur was also able to avoid much of his attacks too. He does get hit, but he’s quite wily and crafty in his defence. I believe Arthur’s experience and intelligence should shine through on fight night.
Arthur is more defensive than offensive, so I envisage him on the backfoot as Cameron comes forward.
It’s worth nothing that Cameron has only been up to round six since his comeback, so 10-rounds will be a tough task having not done championship rounds since 2018, six years back. It’ll be interesting to see how his stamina and concentration holds up once he gets midway through this contest.
He has never been stopped and has an inner strength, so I hope to see him reach the final bell after giving a performance to be proud of.
My final prediction is that I expect Arthur to be patient and clever to box smartly towards a unanimous decision win on the scorecards.