Hearn pushing for Crolla-Perez immediate rematch

By Boxing News - 07/19/2015 - Comments

crolla2(Anthony Crolla seen here pulling down on Darley Perez’s head during a low blow sequence in the 12th round. Perez was docked a point from referee for the low blow) By Scott Gilfoid: Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn will be speaking with World Boxing Association vice president Gilberto Mendoza to try and have him order an immediate rematch between his fighter #11 WBA Anthony Crolla (29-5-2, 11 KOs), who came up short of getting a victory last Saturday night in fighting to a 12 round draw against WBA World lightweight champion Darleys Perez (33-1-1, 20 KOs) at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, UK.

The judges scored the fight 114-113 for Perez, 116-111 for Crolla and even at 113-113. I had Perez easily winning, even with the controversial two points taken away from Perez in the 11th and 12th rounds by referee Howard Foster.

Hearn’s appeal to the WBA likely won’t result in the fight result being overturned, but he might be able to get a rematch for Crolla. Hearn says that he’ll pay to get the rematch for Crolla against Perez if he has to. If he doesn’t get the rematch for him, then Hearn says he’ll look to try and get Crolla a title shot against WBC lightweight champion Jorge Linares or WBO champion Terry Flanagan. Hearn can’t have Crolla fight for the IBF title because it’s still vacant right now until Rances Barthelemy and Dennis Shafikov fight for the title.

Besides that, it’s not a good match-up at all for Crolla to fight either of those guys. Barthelemy would totally school Crolla, and Shafikov would likely knock him out in short order. Those are fights where Crolla would have no chance at all of winning. I don’t see Crolla as having a chance of beating Linares either. That guy is way too good for the likes of Crolla. I see those fights as the nuclear button for Hearn. If he can’t get a rematch for Crolla against Perez, then he might throw him in with one of those three guys, which would be the equivalent of throwing a morsel to a hungry piranha. Knowing Hearn, he’ll opt for the easiest path for Crolla by putting him in with Flanagan. Hearn is already interested in getting a rematch between his fighter Kevin Mitchell with Linares, so there would be a line that Crolla would have to stand in before he could get a fight against Linares.

“I’ll be speaking to the WBA and Gilberto Mendoza and I want an immediate rematch,” Hearn said via IFL TV. “That’s what I want and if we have to pay for it, we’ll just pay for it. I mean, if it’s ordered? But I feel Anthony Crolla deserves a rematch.”

So there it is. If the WBA don’t give Crolla a rematch, Hearn will just pay for it.

I notice that Hearn’s fighters sometimes get rematches after they lose and they also complain a lot. We saw how Paul Smith was given a rematch with Arthur Abraham after he lost to him. Smith bellyached and complained after his loss and was given a rematch. Kevin Mitchell was recently bludgeoned into submission by Linares, and now Mitchell is being talked about for a rematch. At some point, I think it might be better for Hearn to have his fighters keep a stiff upper lip and move on after they fail to get the victory, because it looks really bad with them moaning about the decision and insisting on a rematch. Besides that, it’s not good for their careers to take a second loss in a row. I don’t think for a second that Crolla is going to beat Perez in a rematch, and it would be better off for Hearn to march him in another direction towards a weaker target like Flanagan.

It’s not usual to have a referee insert himself into the equation in a world title fight late in the fight like that. Normally the referees, if they’re going to take points off, take the points off in the early to middle point of the fight. But for Foster to take off the points in the 11th and 12th, it just marred the whole fight and put focus on him instead of the fighters. Another thing that is weird is that when a referee takes points off for a low blow, they rarely take another point away immediately in the next low blow thrown, which is what we saw with Foster deducting another point from Perez in the 12th. For the low blow in the 12th, Crolla pulled down on Perez’s head with both arms while he was in the process of throwing a punch.

It wasn’t Perez’s fault that he threw it low given that Crolla had both arms pushing down on Perez’s head while he was throwing the punch. Foster was right on top of the action, so he should have seen what Crolla did in pulling Perez’s head down as he was throwing a punch. I mean, I would hope that a referee wouldn’t miss something directly in front of his face like that because it was painfully obvious that Crolla grabbed Perez’s head with both arms and pulled it downward towards the canvas while he was throwing a punch. It was just so sad that Foster counted that as a low blow because that was caused by Crolla. If I was the referee, I wouldn’t have taken a point away from Perez. Instead, I would have given Crolla a warning not to pull down on Perez’s head while he’s throwing a punch.

“I’m gonna try and get him (another) world title fight,” Hearn said. “If that’s Linares, if that’s Flanagan? Shafikov is fighting Rances Barthelemy so they’re all tough fights but I can fill this Arena for Anthony Crolla again for the world title.”

Yeah, I don’t see Hearn putting Crolla in with Shafikov or Barthelemy. Even the loser of their fight, would likely do a number on Crolla. I doubt that Hearn would ever let Crolla fight the likes of those guys.

The WBA Vice President Gilberto Jesus Mendoza has already ordered an official scoring review of the Perez-Crolla fight. Other than the outcome of the investigation being used as a reason to order a rematch, I can’t see there being anything from it. I mean, they’re not likely to change the result to a win for Crolla. That would look real bad if it happened.



Comments are closed.