Ross' army of fans gather expectantly at the Elephant & Castle
Leisure Centre.
Ross floors Chas in the 3rd round.
Ross secures the Southern Area Title.
Triumphant at the post fight belt party.
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Bobby Neill had problems travelling
to and from the gym so John and Peter became Ross's full time trainers.
Ross then got a call to fight for the Welterweight Southern Area
Title against Chas 'The Bomb' Symonds.
"When I got the call I was at the gym. I was very excited
as this would be my first real test, I knew I had to win this
fight as it would open up the doors and further my career, taking
me on to bigger things."
The contest was made giving the fighters only 2 1/2 weeks notice.
Fortunately Ross is known as being a very hard trainer and is never
out of shape.
"People don't believe me when I say I have never had a sip
of alcohol in my life, I've also never tried a cigarette or drugs
of any kind. This is a great help when I am out of training, as
it doesn't take me too long to return to full fitness."
Chas Symonds was the unbeaten champ from Croydon, and with Ross
living in nearby Crawley this created a bit of local rivalry between
the two fighters. Ross handled this in a mature and professional
manner, which showed in the fight to be his greatest asset. The
fight was at the Elephant and Castle leisure centre and Ross had
an army of supporters there who cheered him on to a third round
TKO over Symonds.
"I came into the Symonds fight with a great deal of confidence,
knowing the strategy and planning from John and Peter were spot
on. The things I picked up in training were working well and I knew
if I connected with one of my hooks Chas would fall."
Chas did fall and with the explosive way in which Ross dethroned
him, people had no choice but to see Ross as a contender in his
own right.
Ross now the New Southern Area Champion had his eyes firmly set on winning the English Title where he was meant to face the Northern Area Champ 'Magic' Matthew Hatton, brother of World Light Welterweight Champion Ricky 'The Hitman' Hatton. Mathew Hatton pulled out of the contest 4 weeks before, so Ross had to then defend his Southern area title instead.
With the help of his new sponsor, Ultrachem, Ross has been able to really concentrate on getting into great shape and recently attended a training camp, enabling him to feel ready to defend his Southern Area Title against the tough Sammy Smith on the 23rd of September. Sammy came out in the first trying to match Ross, punch for punch, though Ross' movement and varied attacks put him firmly in front.
The second round saw Ross get a small cut under his left eye after breaking out of a messy exchange. The cause was an elbow from Smith. This seemed to wake Ross up and just before the end of the round he landed a solid right hand which put Smith down for a count of 8. Luckily for Smith, the bell rang on his rise. In the 3rd Ross was on a mission. Knowing he had the power to hurt Smith, he came out with confidence and controlled aggressive attacks. After some great body punching, Ross then turned his attention to the head of Smith, which made the referee intervene and save Smith from any more damage.
"I watched videos of Smith, so I knew that he was a good fighter who could take a good shot. I felt a little bit cold at the start, due to not having long enough to warm up, but when I did warm up I felt good. At the point the ref stepped in I was surprised and a little disappointed. I had only just started going through the gears and was probably only in 3rd.
After the fight I had a chat with Sammy. He said that he couldn't believe how strong I was, and that every shot I hit him with hurt him."
The cut that Ross sustained was only superficial and did not require any stitches. Two days after the fight Ross travelled out to the TKO GYM in Tenerife to aid Graham Earl and Martin Power in preparation for their up and coming fights.
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