June 29 2013 - Brian Rose vs Alexey Ribchev

Brian Rose (24-1-1, 7 KOs) outpointed Alexey Ribchev (14-7-1, 6 KOs) over ten rounds by a score of 99-93

By Terence Dooley.

Blackpool’s Brian Rose moved to 24-1-1 (7) at the Bolton Arena Saturday night courtesy of a 99-93 win over Bulgaria’s Alexey Ribchev yet he had to break through the pain barrier due to a niggling back injury that he picked up in training three weeks ago.

Rose also had to contend with a cold virus earlier this week; the dual effects impacted on his performance, although he produced some neat boxing late in the contest to close out a deserved win. Rose, 28, was largely untroubled en route to the victory, but despite some late pressure he could not put Ribchev away, which is no surprise as the visitor has never been stopped in 22 professional contests — 14 wins, seven defeats one draw and four stoppages.  Instead, Rose peppered his 30-year-old foe to pile up points and secure a win that he believes has taught him a lesson or two.

“My back is as bad now as it was the day it went on the body belt three weeks ago, when [trainer] Bobby [Rimmer] asked me if I was OK and I stupidly lied to him — I also had a cold on Tuesday and told him it was hay fever,” revealed Rose when speaking to BoxingScene.  “I knew I wasn’t right going into that ring.  I got through it, won quite convincingly and got the rounds."

“I just love fighting, and anything that prevents me from fighting gets pushed to one side, but I’m going to stop that now because it’s time to start being more professional, especially at the level I’m at now."

“I didn’t think my back was so bad.  Then fight started, the pain started and the adrenaline stopped.  It meant there was certain things I couldn’t do in the fight, such as bend down or rotate and deliver my body shots.  I knew the body shots were hurting him when they did land, but I just couldn’t throw enough of them.  I knew I had to let my shots go late, but my back would go when I did.  If I kept on the pressure then I probably would have stopped him.”

Rose, though, was savvy enough to be aware of his opponent’s toughness and mindful of the fact that Ribchev had beaten former Commonwealth light-middleweight titlist Matthew Hall in October 2011, taking advantage of Hall’s inactivity to spring a tight upset win.  With this in mind, Rose made sure that he secured the win rather than going gung-ho for a stoppage in his first appearance in this venue since an October 2009 10th-round stoppage win over Jason Rushton that left Ruston fighting for his life ended the his boxing career despite him pulling through.

“I just wanted to get the rounds,” said Rose.  “I didn’t expect to stop Ribchev because he’d boxed at middleweight and never been stopped, so why should I have stopped him when others haven’t — especially with an injury?”

Rose’s pre-fight preparations had also been deflated by the failure to secure a showdown with Anthony Mundine, which was on the cards a few weeks ago only for Rose to find out that Mundine was chasing a fight with “Sugar” Shane Mosley instead. “A little bit, yeah,” said Rose when asked if this told on his performance.  “About four weeks ago, I had the Mundine fight and thought I was going to Australia for good money, but it didn’t come off.  It took me a couple of days to get my head round that and on to this fight.  I’ve never used excuses, but I think I’m allowed one every know and again and all these things told tonight.”

Bobby Rimmer told me that Rose could be up for an Academy Award as the fighter had brilliantly concealed his pre-fight niggles from his long-time trainer by adopting a stoical outlook during their final weeks of training.  Had Rimmer known the extent of his fighter’s back injury, he would have pulled the plug on the fight. “I thought Brian had gone quiet in the third round and gave him a bit of a boll*cking, which I feel a bit of a tw*t about now, but I didn’t know what was going on,” said Rimmer.  “Brian then did what I asked him to do and won the fight convincingly.  We’ll be getting that back sorted out ASAP now.”

“I know Bobby would have pulled me out a few days ago if I told him I had a cold,” added Rose.  “I need to be more professional and should have done that, but I said it was hay fever and asked Bobby to get the mitts out.  I’ll be in physio next week getting things sorted.”

There is talk of a European challenge to Sergey Rabchenko or a marquee International name for his next outing, but Rose smiled and showed the extent of his ambition when asked who he wants to fight. “Floyd Mayweather, but he’s got this little thing with [Saul] Alvarez to get through,” he joked.  “Floyd’s got two or three fights left so let’s do it once my back’s sorted.”

Report From www.boxingscene.com by Terence Dooley