Lyndon Arthur breathed new life into his career by climbing off the canvas to rip the European light heavyweight title away from Bradley Rea over 12 exciting rounds.

The fight between Rea (a Manchester City fan from Stretford) and Arthur (a Manchester United fan from Moston) was the biggest and most meaningful derby the city has seen for over a decade. And, before the fight, opinions were split on whether Rea, 27, would be too ambitious, energetic and determined for Arthur or if the 34-year-old’s outstanding jab and ability to control the pace and tempo of the action would decide the outcome.

Arthur’s jab thudded home from the opening seconds. Rea pushed forward through the punishment and looked dangerous every time he let his hands go, but his left eye was swollen and closing when he uncorked a picture perfect left hook and dropped Arthur heavily toward the end of the second round.

Arthur (25-3, 16 KOs) survived Rea’s follow-up onslaught and made it to the end of the round.

After being unceremoniously and unfairly dumped from television screens after losing to future European middleweight champion Tyler Denny back in 2022, Rea (21-2, 10 KOs) quietly spent years rebuilding his career and won the vacant European title by outfighting Shakan Pitters over 12 thrilling rounds this past June.

Clearly in no mood to let his big opportunity slip, Rea ignored his closing eye, walked through the jabs and right hands and cut loose whenever he got the opportunity. Despite only recently moving into the 175 pound division, he looked to be the puncher of the two, particularly with the left hook.

The threat of Rea’s aggressive bursts caused Arthur’s output to drop, but the latter reestablished control in the fifth with a cool, calm round of boxing. Earlier in his career, Arthur’s right uppercut was nearly as deadly as his jab and he found a home for it in the sixth, as Rea found it harder to get close without shipping punishment.

Time and again, Rea’s head would be rocked back by a right hand or an uppercut, but he refused to take a backward step. His retaliatory attacks were becoming shorter and shorter, however.

Aware that the fight was slipping away, Rea tried to up the tempo in the 10th but his aggressiveness got him into trouble. Arthur landed everything in his arsenal and seemed to be on the verge of a stoppage. Rea survived.

With everything going his way, Arthur stopped hunting a stoppage and boxed his way through the final two rounds, forcing Rea to take the initiative but also seemingly allowing the scorecards to close up.

The fight went the distance and Arthur was awarded a majority decision victory. The scores were 114-114, 115-113 and 115-112.