http://www.britishboxing.net/news_4405-BBN-Exclusive-Rhodes-pulls-out-of-defence-against-Small.html Real shame that, was really looking forward to that one. Still a really good card though and still looking forward to going up there for it. Know that Dave Coldwell posts on here sometimes so he might be able to give us some more info re- rescheduling the fight or?
Sorry for the disappointment. but when you can't prepare properly for an important fight due to illness, you can't go through with the fight. I'm sure people on here that have boxed know what it feels like when you have cold, head colds can be brushed off a little, once it gets onto the chest how does it feel when you try to spar? Do strength or fitness curcuits and pads? We not preparing for a six rounder, its a twelve round fight. Sparring is very crucial for a 12 round championship fight. We can't do the main block of sparring so i have no choice but to pull the plug. How many times have you seen a fighter look below par, or lose a fight then a couple weeks later blame poor prep due to a cold? Then how many times do you hear people say 'well he shouldn't have got in the ring', or ' there he goes making excuses'. People don't care after the event what the reasons may be for a poor performance or a loss. Once you in the fight, tuff. You chose to go in less than 100%. I chose not to let my boxer go into a title fight less than 100%, not with a live opponent. I made that mistake once before, won't do it again. Scared? No mate. Sensible, yes. You're talking about a man's future. Ryan has worked very hard to get back up there after being in the wilderness for yrs. What kind of manager would put him into a lose all, win nothing fight when he hasn't had the right prep? Some will believe, some won't. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and i respect that. The only opinions i don't respect are where people call any boxer a coward as no one that gets into the ring is a coward, be it a journeyman doing it for the money or a two time British Champion who has been around for years.
thanks for letting us know Dave, whats the chances of this fight being on the April 25th Kings Hall Belfast card?
Agree 100% Dave, was just posting it up to let people on here know, sorry bud. Small imo has a lot more to gain from the fight than Ryan anyway and your right it would be silly putting him in there with anything less than 100% for him to lose all the ground he's made up over recent times. Its easy for people to have a pop behind a keyboard or think they know best from their armchair. Also shows that your a trainer who puts your fighters first as due to the promoting side I bet its given you a bit of a headache! Fair play anyway mate, the shows still gonna be a good en', although I have to admit I'm gonna be supporting local boy Gethin in the Watson fight. Cheers for coming on anyway and letting us know the details.
No prob mate, Watson v Gethin is gonna be a *******! Think my boy wins of course! haha. Yeah, it is hard when u know you're gonna be in for a lot of stick for pulling out, but thats what the boxers pay us for, looking after them and making the hard decisions i guess. I've seen somewhere that someone posted that they had a bit of cold when they had their pro debut.. they did a four rounder against a journeyman..bit of difference in my opinion. All promoters have **** like this to deal with, it goes in circles. . And goes with the job. But we're doing our best and it's still a competative show imo. You can't look at those fights there and tell me they're all straight forward points wins.
Unlucky Dave Was looking forward to it too! Ah well, still a good card so I'm still getting my moneys worth!
Absolutely gutted that Rhodes is out. Great great guy and still a wonderful fighter. The fight did promise to be a ******* so hopefully the fight get resheduled and not lost like so many other fights at this weight in Britain have through the years. Wonder what Small makes of it, he usually has a few tasty things to say about his opponents. My running scared comment was tongue in cheek. I doubt anyboby can claim to say much bad about Rhodes or his team. I am just so damm gutted about this but no doubt far less gutted than Rhodes himself is. Still it means I may be able to go see the next one. The most disapointed moment of last year for me was finding out that the Rhodes vs Coyle tickets had all sold out.
Gutted this is off, I've been looking forward to this since around Christmas time when it was announced. Still, I'm a big fan of Ryan and really admire the way he's come back (I thought he was unlucky not to get the decision over Lockett), so wouldn't want to see him any less than 100%.
Thanks for clearing it up Dave :good. Do you which fights on the card will/will not be televised by Setanta?
