(Photo credit: Ed Mulholland/HBO) By Scott Gilfoid: #1 WBO Brian Rose (25-1-1, 7 KO’s) feels that he’s earned the right to challenge WBO junior middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade (20-0, 13 KO’s) tonight at the Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, New York. Rose seems to be talking himself up for some reason. It looks like some people are saying that he didn’t do enough to deserve the title shot tonight against Andrade given that Rose’s wins over Javier Maciel and Prince Arron were controversial ones.
“I deserve everything I get. I have worked hard throughout my career to get to this stage,” Rose said to Skysports.com. “I deserve my shot. I’m going to enjoy every moment of it. I knew he would gob off in the weigh-in. That is what he has done but the pressure is all on his shoulders. The pressure is not on my shoulders.”
Gosh, it sounds like Rose has a bit of a chip on his shoulders when it comes to whether he deserves his crack at the title tonight. I mean, what difference does it make that he’s not fought anyone good during his career, and that two halfway decent opponents he’s fought, Maciel and Arron, appeared to beat him? It doesn’t really matter because he’s got his shot, so there’s no point in crying over spilled milk.
Rose will go out and give it his best shot tonight. The World Boxing Organization will be the one that look silly if Rose gets whipped by Andrade, because they’re the ones that gave him a No.1 ranking based on the opposition he’s fought. The WBO will look brilliant if Rose beats Andrade, because none of the other sanctioning bodies has Rose ranked in their top 15. In my own rankings for junior middleweight I don’t have Rose ranked even in the top 50.
Maybe the WBO sees something that the other sanctioning bodies don’t see in Rose. I would have liked to have seen Rose face someone like Vanes Martirosyan, Sergei Rabchenko or James Kirkland before he was made the mandatory challenger for Andrade. The WBO has Rose ranked above Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who they place at No.2. I can’t really understand what that’s all about, because I don’t see Rose as having the kind of talent to where he should be rated above Canelo. The WBO also has Rose ranked above Miguel Cotto. I don’t agree with that either.
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