Battle of Blackpool, Rose v Arnfield added to Crolla v Linares 2 card.

In a fight which holds more significance on a local level, Blackpool's two most prominent middleweights meet in an unlikely clash for the WBA international title on March 25th at the MEN in Manchester..   27 year old Jack Arnfield 23-2 (6 Ko's) is the current holder, an on form fighter who appears to be improving each time out..   Since a 3 round loss in a prizefighter tournament in February 2015 to Cello Renda, Jack got the rare opportunity to box for the British title on short notice, dropping a Unanimous decision to hard punching Nick Blackwell in November, climbing off the floor in a courageous showing..   Last September Jack once again went into the lions den, taking on the highly regarded John Ryder for the WBA international title, Jack showed  great versatility in this fight earning a unanimous verdict that was highly contested, and only last weekend he defended the title successfully against former opponent Michael Hall in Preston, stopping Hall at the end of the 11th in a fight where Jack showed great discipline, sticking to a game plan against a highly competitive challenger..  Arnfield is no doubt the fresher on form fighter.
Brian Rose however has been to the mountain and back, the 31 year old held the British Super welterweight title, beating the very capable Prince Arron in December 2011, making 3 solid defences, before stepping up to face the unbeaten WBO champion Demetrius Andrade in Brooklyn..   Rose would learn a lot about himself in this fight, although losing via a 7th round stoppage, he now understood what it would take to hang with the big boys..  Rose 29-4-1 (8 Ko's) would step back into class 8 Months later, taking on the dangerous Carson Jones in his home town of Blackpool, disaster struck as Rose was stopped in the opening round of what could have been a springboard back onto the world scene..  6 Months later in Hull, Brian avenged the loss to jones on points, setting the score straight to move on with his career, but in April of 2016, Rose would narrowly miss out on the IBF intercontinental middleweight title as Matthew Macklin would just do enough to sway the judges over 12 at the O2, a fight that I had Rose winning comfortably..   Brian last boxed in October, beating Stiliyan Kostov on points over 8 in Birmingham..
The two fighters know each other intimately, having once been stablemates, both coached by the very respected Bobby Rimmer, before Arnfield parted ways to join forces with former world title challenger and now trainer Michael Jennings..  Rimmer, still with Rose with have an interesting introspective on his former charge, having spent hours cultivating his style in the gym..  Both guys are friends and both know in which direction this fight could send them, a win for Arnfield could earn him a British title shot, whereas a loss would set him back to square one..  But for Brian it's more vital, a win would rejuvenate his career, whereas a loss could signal curtains on a once promising career..    It's a very interesting fight.