The boxing calendar is light this weekend, as there are lines for a pair of February 14 fights scheduled in the UK. The first, at the Civic Hall in Wolverhampton features lightweight action as Terry Flanagan faces Stephen Ormond, and the second is at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool where super welterweights Carson Jones and Brian Rose clash.
Ormond is currently a (+195) underdog to Flanagan, who returns at (-230) though Ormond is the current owner of the European Lightweigh title. Flanagan however, at 25 years old and with a perfect 26-0 record, has already won a prizefighter tournament and held the British lightweight title. He is following the natural progression of success that British fighters use, going for the Euro belt before mounting a campaign for a world title. For the Irishman Ormond, this will be the fourth defense of his title, and he won the title and defended it three times in the UK, so he is no stranger to fighting outside of Ireland,
The fight at Blackpool has Brian Rose favored at (-495) over Carson Jones, who is returning (+395). Jones is a journeyman at 36-10-3 and he is 2-2-1 in his last five fights. The two losses however, are to Kell Brook, so he has been fighting at a high level. Carson is looking to win his second fight in a row since he was dismantled by Demetrious Andrade in his first attempt at a world title.
Basically, Rose showed he was tough, but he was down early in the fight and he got bludgeoned throughout the fight by power shots. The ref stepped in to save him in the seventh round in a showing where Rose was not close. If he is going to make a case for a future title shot, especially coming up in weight, he is going to need to string together a few impressive wins. The fight is for the WBC Intrnational belt.
As popular a prospect as Rose may be, he did not look good in his HBO fight with Demetrius Andrade. Here are the highlights from boxing after dark:
