By John Evans
The famous saying goes that bookies never get it wrong. Well, on the 3rd of December they made a rare mistake when they chose to install British light middleweight champion Prince Arron as a heavy favourite for his maiden title defence against Blackpool’s Brian Rose.
Whilst the mainstream might have seen the fight as a straightforward affair, the hardcore fans knew the clash between the much improved Arron and Rose would be a nip and tuck battle.
The first clues that we could be crowning a new champion came in the days building up to the fight. Arron mentioned a previous sparring session between the pair in the press and assured Rose that “If he thinks its gonna be anything like when we sparred, he’s got another thing coming.” For Rose, 18-1-1 (5), the statement was as welcome as it was unexpected. Did he take it as a sign that Aaron was beginning to doubt himself?
“I think there was something in his head telling me he couldn’t beat me that night,” said Rose during a recent interview. “When we sparred, I felt it was quite even and that there was nothing in the spar but obviously he felt otherwise. I think that was one of the key reasons I won the fight.
“I wasn’t even gonna mention the sparring because you’ve got 16oz gloves and a head guard on. It’s training at the end of the day. For him to start bringing it up just proved that I got to him.”
Rose certainly got to the champion in the ring. He landed the cleaner shots throughout and at times totally out boxed the 6ft 3in tall Arron. Despite giving away three inches in height to his opponent, Rose’s reach was just an inch shorter. The quality of his jab more than made up for that slight shortfall and laid a solid foundation on which to build a career best performance.
“Me and Bobby (Rimmer, Rose’s trainer) had tactics from the start and it went exactly how we thought it’d go. We had a game plan and stuck to it all the way through,” says the proud 26-year-old.
“Bobby said to me halfway through camp that I might not be able to hit him with my jab but I hit everybody with my jab so I wasn’t gonna change that. It was about distance, it wasn’t about reach or how tall he was. It’s about timing, that’s how you hit somebody with a jab. I knew the jab and throwing single shots would be the key. I wasn’t taking any risks. I was just throwing ones and twos and getting back out. A couple of times the lid nearly came off and I went for it. Bobby had to rein me in a bit and calm me down.”
It was a night of double celebration for many of Rose’s fans. They didn’t only see their man claim the British title but also helped pay for Christmas after taking advantage of the generous pre fight odds.
“Oh definitely! I’ve not had to buy a drink around here!” Rose jokes. “You could get 5-1 at the start. It was only because people started piling on when they saw those odds that they came down to about 4-1.
“That’s another reason (for the win), he’s only a young lad and it probably put a lot of pressure on him. He was probably thinking ‘I’ve got to win this fight, I’m the favourite’. He knew really that it was an even fight on paper. I didn’t think I was better; I just thought it was going to come down to who boxed better on the night. I thought it was a genuine 50:50 fight so for them to have me at those kind of odds, well the pressure was off.”
Whilst those fans might have been confidently planning their festive purchases as the final bell sounded, they may have temporarily tightened their grips on their wallets when it was announced that the judges had come up with a split decision.
Although the vast majority of observers saw ‘The Lion’ as a clear winner, judge Phil Edwards somehow saw Arron as a 115-114 winner. Luckily for Rose – and for the sport it has to be said – John Keane (117-113) and Victor Laughlin (116-113) returned cards in his favour. Rose himself had a brief moment of panic as he waited to hear his fate.
“I shit myself!” he laughs. “No, I was a bit worried. I just thought it was going to be one of those nights. I looked at Bobby and he tried to calm me down by saying it’d be Ok but I could see from his face that he was worried. I thought it might be one of those nights when I thought I was going to be had over.
“When I heard the second scorecard I thought that sounded a bit more convincing, it was by five or six rounds, and I kind of knew then. When they said ‘And the new’ I’ve never felt anything like it in my life. It was the best feeling I’ve had apart from my son being born.”
If there is a boxer operating today who deserves a few moments of joy more than Rose, I have yet to come across him. His British title success is the culmination of an epic rebuilding job. Rose suffered every professional fighters worst nightmare when opponent Jason Rushton collapsed following their 2009 fight.
Although Rushton thankfully recovered, an understandably apprehensive Rose was then knocked out by the unheralded Max Maxwell in his return to the ring. At that point, Sir Edmund Hilary would probably have thought twice about tackling the climb Rose faced to reach the top.
“It makes it better for me knowing what I’ve been through,” confirms Rose. “The Jason Rushton thing nearly finished my career and with then getting knocked out myself the fight after that, at one point I didn’t see a way back. For me to come back, win an English title and be in contention for a British title, well I felt blessed. For me to win it was a remarkable achievement in itself. Mentally I’m stronger than anyone now. To come through all that, nothing can damage me mentally now.”
Rose becomes respected Manchester trainer Bobby Rimmer’s first British champion and is hopeful that the triumph can kick start a successful period for the gym.
“It’s been an unbelievable achievement for us both and we might attract other boxers now,” he states. “It’s gonna spur everybody on and spirits are high in the gym. Obviously the lads are going to be boxing on my undercards so it will help our gym out and get us on the map.”
His victory hasn’t only had a positive effect within the confines of the gym. Rose is also noticing a difference around his hometown of Blackpool. “There’s loads of people letting on to me and coming up congratulating me. My first defence is going to be in Blackpool so that’s brilliant for the town.
“We’ve got a few boxers coming up. Scotty Cardle who’s just turned over, Adam Little and Matty Askin who will probably be a British champion so its brilliant for the town. It’s fifty years since we last had a British champion [Brian London up at heavyweight] and we could have two now.”
If Rose has his way, he will be calling himself British champion for a long time. The new titlist has the same lofty ambitions as any other aspiring fighter but is also taking a more long-term look at his career.
“I’m gonna look to keep hold of the title and keep it outright. If I train as hard as I did for my last fight I’m confident I’ll be keeping hold of the title and defending it twice and owning it outright.
“It’s such a prestigious belt. To be honest, I’ve done everything right in my eyes. I’ve won the Central Area title, the English title and defended it and now the British. I don’t want to change things. I’ve won the British title now I want to defend it. I think it’s the right thing to do before I move on to the next level and make sure I’m ready for the next level. I could end up moving up and getting beaten because I wasn’t ready. I’m only 26 – I’ve got time on my side.”
