By Lee Collier
Back in 2005 Bobby Rimmer was working alongside Billy Graham in his Phoenix gym helping out with the training of fighters such as Ricky Hatton. Rimmer then made a brave and bold decision to leave the Phoenix gym and started up his own gym.
At the beginning Rimmer had only one fighter in Blackpool’s Brian Rose, but now three years down the line the likeable trainer has a stable of seven fighters, including Olympic bronze medallist Tony Jeffries, and has just seen Brian Rose win his first title when he beat Jason Rushton to win a Central Area title.
Rimmer has had quite a few emotional events in 2009, there has been a gym move, the injuries Jason Rushton received in the defeat to Brian Rose, alongside a couple of defeats for his boys. Yet Rimmer has remained upbeat and is happy with how 2009 panned out for him.
“This year went great, once again we moved gyms and that’s the last time we are moving gyms,” laughed Rimmer. “Overall it was a good year. Tony Jeffries is still undefeated and Brian Rose won his first title.”
“One of the few hiccups was when Warren Tansey lost his debut on points and you kind of look at yourself and wonder why the kid got beat,” reflected Rimmer. “Warren just absolutely froze, but then he went and boxed his next fight and won in style. He had his opponent on the floor in the first round, second round and third round before stopping him. It was just Warrens nerves in his first fight and I have no doubt Warren is going to go on to better things.”
The year ended in disappointment for Rimmer when his new fighter Mike Stafford lost his first fight under the trainer, which has caused Rimmer to ponder whether mistakes were made. “The disappointment of the year was Mike Stafford getting beat at the Jolly Boys at Christmas. When Mike first came to me and I thought there is no way he is a cruiserweight so we asked him to get a stone off - which he did. Just before the fight Tony Quigley Sr told me he remembered Mike doing the same in the amateurs and he had fallen to pieces on that occasion,” revealed Rimmer.
“It came true and he absolutely fell to pieces so we have to put that right for his next fight in Blackpool. It was a lesson for both me and Mike, I should have looked into him losing weight a little bit more and spoke to him about it rather than being bullish and just telling him to get the stone off,” declared Rimmer.
“He looked great in the gym but afterwards his girlfriend told me he had been eating hardly anything so it’s a lesson for both of us and I don’t have an ego where I blame others. If I am to blame or partly to blame then I’ll admit it. I am still learning like every other coach and I’m far from the finished article.”
Rimmer is keen to make sure the same mistakes do not happen again and is looking to get Stafford’s career back on track in 2010.
He said: “We have to re-assess with Mike, I don’t blame myself and I don’t blame Mike, it was a culmination of things and we both need to take some of the blame. Mike has lost his unbeaten run and I did a lot of soul searching.”
Back in October, Rimmer experienced what should have been a great moment for him when Brian Rose won the Central Area light-middleweight title. Shortly after the fight, Rose’s opponent Jason Rushton collapsed and was rushed to hospital and required minor surgery on a brain injury. Rushton is now on the slow road to recovery, but the incident affected Rimmer and his fighter.
“The first time we went to see Jason was a difficult and emotional time. Brian and I both got upset as we are all human beings,” said an emotional Rimmer. “Brian should have boxed in December but we pulled him out feeling he needed more time, plus his hand wasn’t healed. As time as gone on and Jason has got better and better Brian feels it is okay to box again. I don’t think it will effect Brian but we will have to see in February whether it has or not.”
Rimmer is proud of how his young fighter dealt with such a difficult period in his life. “Brian showed me how much of a man he is. I felt he handled the situation really well and went through every single emotion after that fight. He is a real nice kid, a gem, and he handled himself perfectly. He boxed a great fight it was just a shame on the ending. He went to Blackpool the other week and got his belt presented on the pitch, which was great for him,” added Rimmer.
After a successful but emotional year, Rimmer is looking forward to 2010 and has a busy schedule lined up already, with Tony Jeffries the first back into action. “Tony Jeffries is out on 5th February and will get a tougher fight after what was said last time. That’s for Frank to sort out but I’ll make sure Tony is in the best condition he can be, like I always do,” stated Rimmer.
He continued: “Then it’s onto the 27th February at Blackpool where Brian will defend his title and Jack [Arnfield] will fight for his first title. Kieran Farrell will be stepping up to six rounds for the first time and Mike Stafford will be fighting again so the year is starting off where 2009 left off, right in the thick of it. We trained all over the Christmas period and I am looking forward to next year.”
The coming year could be a big year for Rimmer’s most high profile fighter. Tony ‘Jaffa’ Jeffries won an Olympic bronze in 2008 and had an impressive first year winning all five of his fights, which included four stoppages.
Rimmer is supremely confident that the Sunderland born fighter is ready for whatever challenges are thrown at him in the coming year. “I am a coach, not a promoter of manager. It is up to Frank Maloney and Tony’s dad Phil to decide what level Tony is ready for. All I will do is prepare him to 100% for any fight he has like I always have done,” stated Rimmer.
“I feel Tony is really good and has bags of talent. What people don’t realise about Tony is how hard he hits. Tony hits like a mule and it’s like getting kicked off a horse,” claimed Rimmer. “Even doing the light pads is hard work with Tony. What you’ll notice with Tony is he never pulls his shots he just lets them go and puts his body weight behind them.
“People criticise him because he keeps knocking these opponents out but he will knock a lot of fighters, he is one of the heaviest handed fighters I have worked with. I have worked with Matthew Macklin, Paul Smith and Patrick Maxwell but Tony is the biggest hitter out of the lot.”
Rimmer then went on to discuss his three titleists for 2010 in Blackpool’s Brian Rose and Jack Arnfield and Manchester’s Jon Kays. “We have the three amigos, Brian, Jack and Jon, all fighting for titles early next year,” enthused Rimmer.
“Jon should have had his title fight in October but he had about four opponents pull out and he ended up boxing Sid Razak. Jon showed what a true professional he is, he just got on with the job in hand and didn’t moan about anything and he got the job done. [Promoter] Steve [Wood] has promised him a title fight in possibly April so if everything goes to plan we should have a good gym of champions in 2010.”
Rimmer then talked about light-middleweight prospect Jack Arnfield. “Jack is like Brian, they both injured their hands on the Jamie Moore bill in October. Jack was boxing Alex Spitko and would have stopped Spitko but he injured his left hand in the first round and his right hand in the third round,” explained Rimmer. “Jack was in bad pain but he fought on and I was really proud of Jack that night.”
Rimmer finished off by talking about his youngest fighter in 19-year-old super-flyweight prospect Kieran Farrell. Farrell had an impressive first year in the sport winning all four of his fights. With Farrell being in a division that lacks depth in Britain there is the possibility of a title fight for the young Heywood star.
“Young Kieran is chomping at the bit, he has had three 4 round fights and a six two minute rounds fight and with him being a lighter weight super flyweight he feels ready to take on all the top lads. Kieran’s bravery knows no bounds and he will get in the ring with anyone and is absolutely straining at the leash so at one point this year we are going to let him off the leash and see how he does,” said Rimmer.
Rimmer’s realises that with the hard work done by him and his lads, under the guidance of both Steve Wood and Frank Maloney, that 2010 could be a big year for his gym. “We have every faith in Steve Wood and Frank Maloney to engineer these kids careers the way we want them to go. The lads are also putting the effort in so it should be a good 2010,” he concluded.
