Brian Rose calls out Scott Fitzgerald
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Blackpool’s Brian Rose recorded a points victory against Belgian James Hagenimana in his six-rounder in Liverpool tonight.
The light middleweight made it two wins in a row since making his comeback to the ring after 18 months out after his win against Alistair Warren in November.
Rose took it 60-53 on the referee’s scorecard following a one-sided fight where he recorded a heavy knockdown in the first round.
He sent Hagenimana (8-11) crashing to the canvas after just 58 seconds, landing a blow to the side of his head with a perfectly-timed right hand.
His opponent did well to make the count and continue, but for the remainder of the bout he took a high-guard defence and landed no meaningful shots of his own.
Rose, who looked fit and sharp throughout, remained patient in search of a stoppage, prodding away with his trademark long jab while looking for openings.
But, despite rocking his head back on a couple of occasions in the fourth at Liverpool Olympia, Hagenimana stayed in there until the final bell.
Rose, who has now taken his record to 31 wins from his 37 fights, fought at a much higher tempo than we’re accustomed to seeing and landed some heavy blows, something we don’t always associate with the middleweight.
He was backed by a strong contingent from Blackpool once again, with chants of "Sea-sea-seasiders" repeated both before and during the bout.
Speaking to iFL TV after the fight, Rose reiterated his desire to see him fight Preston’s Scott Fitzgerald in his next fight.
“I think it was a blessing in disguise suffering the injury to my shoulder back in November because I was overweight at the time and I want to move down to light-middleweight,” the 34-year-old said.
“I felt a lot sharper in there and I even knocked him down, which isn’t something I do very often.
“I boxed to instructions which was the main thing, but I’m obviously punching harder and a lot of that is to do with me doing weights for the first time in my career, which sounds crazy I know.
“I’m willing to make sacrifices for my career. My wife is pregnant and she’s due any minute now, but if a big fight comes up like Scott Fitzerland then those long camps in LA will be completely worth it.
“That’s the fight I want next. It’s massive for Lancashire and if I’m being honest I don’t think people realise just how big a fight it is.”