Prince Arron vs Brian Rose Preview

On Saturday third of December, at the Robin Park Arena, the resurgent Prince Arron aims to stay king of the British light middle weight division when he defends his British title against the English title holder Brian Rose live on SKY Sports HD1 at 8pm.

On the undercard, Karl Place will tackle Steve Williams in a British light welterweight eliminator on this packed eleven fight card.

Last time Prince Arron fought he defeated Sam Webb to win his British title back in May.

Arron stopped Webb in the 12th round of a gutsy, action-filled fight which was one of the 2011’s fight of the year on Sky Sports. Arron claimed his first professional title after a wobbly start to his career after suffering defeated against top level prospects John Duddy, Anthony Small whom went on to become British and Commonwealth title holder and Danny Reynolds.

Webb was controlling the pace of the bout using his boxing skill and slick head movement to avoid the long rangy arms of Arron, using tremendous head movement. Webb was then caught with a huge right hand.

Webb was able to beat the count but he was on wobbly legs. Arron pushed for the stoppage after the knockdown, but it did not arrive in the fifth.
For the remainder of the contest Webb looked as if he had not regained complete stability in his legs but he was still giving Arron problems that would have made it difficult for the judges to call. 

Arron started asserting his authority and by round nine Arron was using his jab effectively and was landing his right hand at will. Arron picked up the pace and then stopped Webb in the twelfth round.

On the undercard that evening Brian Rose stopped previously unbeaten Martin Welsh in the eighth round.

In the contest Welsh was throwing lots of leather but not connecting as much as he would have wanted to and lacked creativity in his boxing. Rose took the bull by the horns and took control of the contest in the third round and dominated proceedings.

In the eight Rose rocked Welsh with a big right hand and referee Richie Davies stepped in to save Welsh from any more harm.

Keys to Victory

At 6’4 I’m sure it is a tedious task for Prince Arron to make the 154lb limit. The question is, has his punch resistance been affected since moving down from the middleweight division. Although he has not been down in the 154lb weight category, he has not faced a big puncher as of yet in the division.

Arron has won eleven straight fights since that time; with one draw on his record. After suffering three early defeats in his career, Arron could have called it a day, he never. At this point he based himself America to improve his ring education without the possible distractions of life in Manchester. 

If he uses the jab effectively, his size and reach advantage will be a factor in helping him to win this fight. While Arron does not have many stoppages on his record, he is currently on a hot streak with three stoppages in his last three fights, so the drop in weight may have made his punching power more evident.

Arron doesn’t do anything spectacular, but he doesn’t make many mistakes either. He has a good work rate and along with his height and reach, this makes him a very hard man to beat and now he has a style that uses the wingspan he possesses.

Rose has all the tools to become the British champion. He has the boxing ability and a precise jab (he won several national titles and won a bronze in the European cadet championships). Sam Webb was boxing well and Arron had difficulty pinning his opponent down. The only problem I see is that where can you find a boxer that has the height and reach advantages of Prince Arron for sparring?

I’m sure Bobby Rimmer will devise a strategy for Rose, but implementing it will be another question. Rose needs to use good lateral movement and fire off combinations but he will have to be weary of being caught off balance when manoeuvring out of range of Arron’s punches.

Another reward should Rose defeat Arron, will be that he will be the first boxer from Blackpool to win a British title since Brian London in 1958.

I can see the fight being a tactical affair, but I hope I am wrong. If the contest has the drama and excitement of the last major light middleweight title fight in the North West promoted by Frank Maloney, which was Jamie Moore versus Ryan Rhodes, the fans should be in for a treat.

The light middleweight division has recently enjoyed publicity with Matthew Hatton and Ryan Rhodes gallantly challenge for the WBC world title against Saul ’Canelo’ Alvarez, ultimately both losing against the Mexican prodigy.

On a domestic level, Prizefighter: Light Middleweights II saw Robert Lloyd-Taylor win the competition, after only finding out he was boxing in the competition via a coin toss after JJ Bird collapsed before the start of the competition.

Wrong place, wrong time for Williams?

Chief support will see the Manchester Mexican Karl Place step up and battle former British title challenger Steve Williams. This contest is also an eliminator for the right to fight against British light welterweight, Ashley Theophane in 2012.

Last time out Place comfortably defeated Slovenian import Ivan Godor over six rounds, after original opponent Carl Johansson withdrew from the contest at short notice.In Williams’s last contest he faced Czech import Araik Sachbazjan defeating him over six rounds with a 59-57 point’s victory.

Williams may have had fewer contests than Place, but he has operated on a slightly higher level. He is a former English title holder and fought against Lenny Daws, back in July 2010 in an unusually warm York Hall, for the British title.

Williams did give a gallant challenge but the more experienced Daws wore him down gradually through the course of the contest. Williams’s corner pulled him out of the contest before the start of the eleventh round, strangely enough, after his best round of the fight.

Place is 5’11 and has a style of walking his opponents down by using smartly applying pressure and he works well to the body. If he shows the same patience he did against Steve Saville it should be an easier night than expected. 

Williams is a tough boxer though, and after losing his British title the ‘Wallasey Express’ has relocated himself to Kempton Street gym and where he was able to spar a number of rounds with Liam Walsh, Tyrone Nurse and current British champion Ashley Theophane before he stopped Paul King in two rounds.

This is really the acid test that Place needs at this stage in his career, he is being pushed at a good pace but this a good step up in class that will test him. Should Place win (which I believe he will), I think he needs one more contest before challenging for the British title should Theophane beat Nigel Wright on December 10th. Williams is a good operator but the punch variety Place throws, doubled with the power, he has will see him through via a wide unanimous decision or a late stoppage.

Best of the Rest

On a stacked and packed undercard Rick Godding battles Vinny Woolford and Warren Tansey clashes againstJason Ball.

Nick Quigley hopes to bounce back from his recent loss in Prizefighter against Dee Mitchell.

Mike Stafford is seeking revenge when he takes on Billy Boyle, who handed him his first defeat in 2009.

Rob Beech takes on the old war horse Hastings Rasani who earned a shock draw against former WBC title challenger Albert Sosnowski recently.

Carl Dilks returns against Simeon Cover as he hopes to snap a two fight losing streak.

Lewis Pettitt faces off against Michael Stupart.

Jon Kays, Nathan Clarke, Ryan Aston will all see action.

Finally Chris Metcalfe will make his professional debut on this action packed fight card.