DROYLESDEN'S “Prince” Arron Jones (14-3-1, one early) may not be the bookies’ favourite for the light-middleweight Prizefighter next weekend, but he certainly feels he's in with a chance of taking the cash prize home.

“I'm looking forward to it,” he beamed. “It's a big opportunity for me. I'm ambitious and I'm only 22. There’s a lot of big names out there and if I can win Prizefighter, it's going to open doors for me with British title fights and eliminator fights. I've trained hard, so bring it on.”

Arron has been known as somewhat of a distance man in the past, only stopping one foe in 18 fights. However, he's convinced the three three-minute-round system will cause him no problems. “I think it will suit me, with my height and reach,” said the former British Masters middleweight champion. “I've got a good jab, and my trainer Bob [Shannon] has told me I could just stick the jab out for three rounds and make life easy for myself.

“Preparations have gone well. I've had some great sparring with Brian Rose down at Bobby Rimmer's gym, and he's helped out a lot. I've been sparring Denton Vassell as well, and as far as fitness is concerned, I've been up in the hills in Glossop with dumbbells on and weights, as Bob takes me on those runs, so preparations have been good.”

A win for Arron would be a massive boost to a career which has seen him being matched hard from the beginning. Indeed, in just his fifth fight he was put in with Anthony Small, and a 21-0 John Duddy in 2007.

“If I win it, it's a big bonus for me,” admitted Arron. “There's not only a lot of money involved, with the £32,000 [top prize], but I'm only 22 and it will just prove I have a big future ahead of me. It could open doors. I'm a big, tall kid, and I could grow into a middleweight or even a super-middleweight. Having titles at any of them weights would be fantastic."

“Prince” has fought extensively as a middleweight, and that was the weight at which he won the British Masters belt. However, he is sure that the Prizefighter light-middleweight limit will pose no problems.

“I've fought at middleweight before; the only reason for that being there were fights availiable there,” he asserted. “I'm naturally a light-middlewight at the moment. Eventually, I may grow into being a middleweight, but your body does what it wants to do, and only time can tell, but I feel strong at light-middleweight and I've fought there for my last four or five fights now, and I feel good.”