British boxer-puncher Lyndon Arthur will return to action against unbeaten Davide Faraci in a scheduled 10-round light heavyweight contest at the famous Royal Albert Hall in London on Saturday.

Arthur, who is rated No. 10 by The Ring at 175 pounds, will be fighting for the first time since he edged past his more celebrated countryman Anthony Yarde (SD 12) last December.

“I defended my (Commonwealth) title and it was a really good win,” Arthur (18-0, 12 knockouts) told The Ring. “People now involve me with the best light heavyweights in Britain. Before it was, ‘Can Lyndon, do it?’ if they spoke about me at all.”

The recently turned 30-year-old had an operation on his right elbow that has kept him sidelined for longer than expected.

“It’s something I had before the [Yarde] fight; a bit of wear and tear with boxing. I had the same thing with my left arm in 2018,” Arthur explained. “I had the operation on January 29, and it took a lot longer to mend than my left arm did. I just had to get some bone taken out, [there’d been] some tissue damage, it caused a lot of problems.”

With injury woes now behind him, the unbeaten Manchester man is ready to showcase his skills against Faraci, a Swiss-born Italian national.

“He’s a good undefeated fighter,” said Arthur, who has prepared under the watchful eye of former European junior welterweight champion Pat Barrett. “I’m excited to fight again in front of a few fans. I just can’t wait to fight. I’m at that stage in my training where I’m a bit restless and I just want to get in the ring.

“I think [Faraci’s] a pretty decent boxer, he jabs a lot. That’s his strong point – he’s pretty good at boxing. I feel I can exploit most things on him. We’ll have to see on the night. I obviously feel superior to him in my boxing skills. Tune in on Saturday July 10th for my main event, it should be a good show.”

Former opponent Yarde will appear on the undercard against German Emin Atra. If, as expected, both Arthur and Yarde prevail, there has been talk that a rematch could come next. But while Arthur isn’t ruling that out, he has higher aspirations than just defending his Commonwealth title.

“I want to fight for the world title,” he said. “I have no problem fighting [Yarde] at all. I believe I beat him again. I’m not looking past anybody, but it kind of makes sense [to look at the world scene].

“I’m ranked No. 1 in the WBO, and that’s probably the route I’ll go now. It’s a fight [against Joe Smith Jr.] where I’d have to be switched on for 12 rounds. [Smith’s] tough; he’s been in there with [Dmitry] Bivol and Bernard Hopkins. He’s very experienced, he’s a very good, tough come-forward fighter… strong. I look forward to fighting him if that ever comes off.”

Faraci (15-0, 7 KOs) turned professional in 2016. He has campaigned mainly in Switzerland and Italy, and he annexed the Italian light heavyweight title in 2019. The 29-year-old is also coming off a career-best win over Emre Cukur, whom he outpointed over eight rounds in February 2020. Arthur represents a major step up in class.

Arthur-Faraci, plus undercard action, will be broadcast by BT Sport 1 in the U.K.

Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at [email protected] and you can follow him on Twitter @AnsonWainwright

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