Booth returns to win column

Many would have forgiven Jason Booth if he'd have hung up his gloves after a close world title defeat to Canadian southpaw Steve Molitor in September.

After all, his outside-the-ring troubles are as well-documented as his in-ring exploits (a former alcoholic who sank as low as raiding bins to feed his thirst for alcohol).

But the hard-working, never-say-die Nottingham super-bantamweight still has lofty ambitions in the game and kept those on-track with a 12-round split decision over Jamie Arthur, the Commonwealth champion, in Essex on Saturday (February 5).

Smooth-boxing Booth retained his British 8st 10lbs title for the fourth time after a hard-fought scrap that saw Welshman Arthur, now 18-5 (4), boss the opening nine minutes of action with work done primarily off a sharp left-hand lead.

Yet the East Midlander, who only arrived at the Brentwood Leisure Centre, 25 minutes before he was set to step into the ring due to taking a wrong turn off the M25, found his feet as the 36-minute contest decended into a give-and-take scrap.

Both were sliced open in the fifth but it was the 2002 Commonwealth Games gold medalist's cut in the seventh that gave iron-willed Strelley-based Booth, 33 and now 33-6 (15), the inspiration to do some of his best work.

Neither mans work was clean throughout but a solid right in the tenth made 31-year-old Arthur, Cwmbran and taller by almost six inches, cling on for survival.

Booth couldn't, however, deliver a grandstand finish and manged to convince two judges, Marcus McDonnell (117-112) and Ian John-Lewis (115-113), he'd done enough to add the Commonwealth strap to his collection.

Richie Davies sided with Arthur by a one-point margin, 115-114.

Arthur, who started life as a pro at lightweight, is hoping for a rematch and Booth, who started as a flyweight, is potentially in-line for a fight with another Midlands super-bantamweight who came up short in a world title challenge, Leicester's slick ex-European champion Rendall Munroe.