Carson Jones says he will land his first win on UK soil against Brian Rose on Saturday night at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, live on Sky Sports.
The Oklahoma man is famous on these shores for providing Kell Brook with a real scare when they met in July 2012 in Sheffield, Jones breaking Brook’s nose midway through a titanic tussle that Brook edged via majority decision.
Jones returned to England five months later and was slated to meet Lee Purdy in London, but after the Essex man pulled out of the fight, he drew with hungry Irishman Dean Byrne over eight rounds. Jones landed a rematch with Brook in the summer of 2013 and the Sheffield star stopped him inside eight.
The 28 year old was set to face Jones in Manchester in January only for the bout to be moved to this weekend in Blackpool following the attack on Anthony Crolla, and the American says that postponement has been to his advantage as he aims to land the vacant WBC International Light Middleweight title.
“I’m very excited to return to the UK and put on a great show,” said Jones. “I had a great camp and the postponement give me more time to work on some different things and be better prepared for Rose. I feel great competing at Light Middleweight and making the weight isn’t a problem for me, I actually fought at this weight in the beginning of my career. I have said prior Brian Rose is pretty basic and you will see on the 14th just how basic he is.”
Jones’ clash with Rose is part of a great night of action in Blackpool with eight determined contenders lining up for the Prizefighter Middleweights II.
There’s five unbeaten fighters risking their unbeaten records to land the trophy in local favourite Jack Arnfield, Irishman Luke Keeler, Wales’ Tom Doran, Preston’s Mick Hall and Birmingham’s Craig Cunningham. Former finalist Cello Renda is aiming to go one better while youngsters Liam Conroy and Luke Crowcroft can give their careers a massive boost with victory. The draw for the action will be made live on Sky Sports news at 10.30am on Thursday.
Lytham St. Annes’ English Lightweight champion Scotty Cardle gets a six-rounder on the bill while there’s a third pro outing for Marcus Morrison.
Only £40 tickets remain available to buy at www.MatchroomBoxing.com.
