By Terence Dooley

Manchester’s Prince Arron makes the first defence of his British light-middleweight belt against Lancashire rival Brian Rose at Wigan’s Robin Park venue live on Sky TV on Saturday night.

Frank Maloney is promoting the show – Sky’s first domestic action of the month – and it looks set to feature a fiery main event.  Arron, 21-3-1 (4), has scored stoppages in his last three, including a title winning twelfth round TKO of Sam Webb in Gillingham. 

Rose, 17-1-1 (5), lost his ‘0’ to Max Maxwell courtesy of a stunning KO in May 2010 but has since racked up three wins and is the English titlist.  The ‘Lion’ is quiet outside the ring yet is expected to present the 6’ 3’’ champion with a fierce test, as Arron acknowledged when speaking to Boxingscene ahead of the bout.

BS: You look ripped going into this one.  Has the prospect of fighting Rose brought out the best of you during preparation for this bout?

Prince Arron: “We always train hard anyway.  I’ve heard in the past that the first defence is supposed to be the hardest one so that’s motivated me a bit more.  I like training, I always train hard anyway and trained like I did for same Webb, like the challenger.”

“I’m favourite in this fight but I’ve been the underdog my whole career so am going into this fight thinking like that.  Becoming British champion is a dream for most boxers.  I’ve achieved it at 23-years of age, people wish for this but I go to sleep at night dreaming of becoming a world champion.  I set my expectations high but have a job to do on Saturday nigh to defend my British title.”

BS: You are 3-0 (3) in recent fights, where is the extra power coming from?

PA: “I’m hitting a lot harder now.  My record speaks for itself now.  A lot of people say I’m not a puncher but look at how much I’ve improved since coming over to [trainer] Bob [Shannon] – I’ve stopped my last three and am hitting harder.”

“No disrespect to Brian Rose but there aren’t any decent names on his record apart from Max Maxwell, who knocked him out after Brian had a bad day at the office.  I’m not disrespecting Brian but he hasn’t fought the same names I have.  I was fighting and beating Cello Renda after at the age of 19 over ten rounds.”

BS: Are you under any extra pressure now that you are the British champion?

PA: “I’ve got a lot of pressure behind me because Brian knows a lot of people in Manchester as well to make it like a derby.  It is the biggest fight of our career for both of us because of where it is.  I went into the Lion’s Den in the Prizefighter and against Sam so this isn’t anything new to me.  My best performances come when I’m nervous and believe me I am nervous about this one.”

“I’d be stupid to look part Brian, this is his first British title fight so he’ll have trained really hard for it.  I’ve got a job to do and am confident that I’ll still the champion and on the verge of a European title shot.”

Shannon believes that his latest British champion will prove to be one of his finest fighters, the coach operates out of his Fighting Fit base and has whipped the title holder into terrific shape due to the presence of local rival Bobby Rimmer in the opposite corner.

BS: Is this the best shape Arron has ever been in?

Shannon: “Yes, without question, you only have to look at his body, every muscle is showing just like [Manny] Pacquiao.  Arron’s British champion now so he’s taken his training to the next level – I’ve taken it to the next level as well and it will pay off.”

“His hand speed is second to none.  I’m struggling on the pads with him because he’s that quick.  I hope young fighters tune into the weigh in to see how dedicated a champion has to be.  Arron’s had ten weeks of hard training.  Fighters need hard training and when you see Prince you’ll know he’s done it.”

BS: Winning a title is tough, holding onto it is even harder as the belt puts a target on your back, what have you done differently this time around?

Shannon: “I always said it is hard to win the British title but harder to defend it.  Only good or great fighters win it outright so we know we’re up against it.  Brain’s a very good fighter with a great trainer in Bobby Rimmer and I’m sure Arron will take it to the next level because he’s trained like a challenger because of the quality we’re facing.”

“Joe Calzaghe once said to me, ‘No one can beat me because I train like the challenger’, and that kept him champion.  Those were wise words from Joe and I have applied it to my fighters.”

BS: Arron had lost three fights by the time he got to you, against Anthony Small, Danny Reynolds and John Duddy, what were your first impressions when he joined the gym?

Shannon: “I was surprised by a lot of things.  I always knew Arron had skill and speed, he’s also shown the asset of determination and I knew he had a great future.  He’ll go down as a great fighter from Manchester.  Speed will be the difference in this fight.”

“Accuracy will play a part as well, we’ve worked on strength and the great thing with Arron is his confidence.  It is inspiration to me and Arron to be going against Brian and Bobby, it has brought the best out of Arron and me as a trainer so I’m thankful to them for taking us to that next level.”

“Boxing is a great spectacle, we want to get the fans back and these fights are the types of derbies we need for the local fans.  I want more like this.  There’ll only be one winner, Prince Arron.”

BS: There is talk of a European title challenge in 2012 should Arron win this one.  The EBU belt would bring the likes of Sergey Rabchenko and Ryan Rhodes into the mix; can Arron hang at that level?

Shannon: “Right now we’re not looking beyond Brian.  The nature of boxing is to look at the higher levels, guys like Ryan Rhodes who have won the European title are people you look towards but we’ve got to get past Brian first.”

Sky Sports 1 and HD1 televise from 8pm on Saturday night.

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