Arnfield reveals pre-fight illness hitch

It has only just come to light that Arnfield went down with two bouts on sickness.This hampered the preparation for his ultimately successful defence of the World Boxing Association international middleweight title at Manchester Arena as Arnfield prevailed on all three judges’ cards after 12 rounds.Four weeks before the bout, Arnfield went down with tonsillitis and then developed a bout of food poisoning.Arnfield’s trainer Michael Jennings revealed: “We were very worried at the time.“First, Jack got tonsillitis and we had to give him a few days off from the gym. After he came back he suffered from food poisoning.“Obviously, that is not the kind of preparation that we would have wanted for such an important fight.“Jack would not have wanted to pull out of such an important fight, but it was hardly ideal.“We wouldn’t have mentioned it after the fight should anything have gone wrong against Brian.“As I used to box myself, I know how difficult it can be if you get ill while you are training for a fight.”The Rose camp are continuing to make noises about a rematch between the two, but that still looks most unlikely to happen.Jennings said: “I may be entirely wrong, but I can’t see (promoter) Eddie Hearn wanting to put on a rematch after the way that Brian boxed on the night.“Brian was on the back foot throughout and we didn’t think that he would fight like that.“It surprised us the way Brian boxed on the night and we didn’t expect it at all.”Jennings’ stable is rising in stature all the time, with Michael and his brother, Dave, enjoying a boost in their reputation.The brothers have ordered Arnfield to take a rest from the gym for at least a week.Options for Arnfield include a tilt at the British middleweight title or to examine options in Europe and maybe beyond.One important date in Arnfield’s calendar is his planned wedding to his girlfriend, Laura Betts, scheduled for later in the year.