Crolla says Linares won’t take his WBA strap

By Boxing News - 08/24/2016 - Comments

Image: Crolla says Linares won’t take his WBA strap

By Scott Gilfoid: Anthony Crolla will be defending his World Boxing Association lightweight title next month against former three division world champion Jorge Linares (40-3, 27 KOs) on September 24 at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, UK. Crolla, 29, calls this the arena his home and he doesn’t plan on letting the talented 31-year-old visitor Linares to come into his home and take his WBA strap from him in front of his many fans.

Crolla (31-4-3, 13 KOs) recently successfully defended his WBA title last May in stopping 33-year-old challenger Ismael Barroso in the 7th round in Manchester. It wasn’t a really great performance from Corolla despite him winning the fight. I mean, Crolla won the fight, but only because Barroso punched himself out after five rounds. He was giving

Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/Matchroom Boxing

“The arena is going to be rocking. That’s my house, and I want to keep those three belts in Manchester,” said Crolla. “We’re working so hard in the gym because Jorge Linares is a phenomenal fighter and I’m honored to be fighting him in my house.”

I wouldn’t get so caught up in thinking about the hometown advantage jazz if I were Crolla. Linares already whipped British fighter Kevin Mitchell in a 10th round knockout last year in May 2015 in London, England. Linares battered Mitchell in front of his own fans at the O2 Arena on the night, and had him looking well beaten when the fight was halted in the 10th. Mitchell is a bigger puncher than Crolla by far, and Linares made it look easy in beating him.

Yeah, Mitchell’s fans were screaming like mad in giving him support, but it didn’t help him any. Linares is a professional. He ignored the bleating from Mitchell’s loyal fans and went about his business in giving him a real beat down until the fight was halted. It’s a good thing the fight was stopped when it did, because I think Linares would have made Mitchell’s face look like hamburger if it were allowed to go much further.

Linares has since beaten Ivan Cano by a 4th round knockout last October.

“This is a legacy fight for me,” said Crolla. “Every young kid wants to become a world champion and I’ve done that now, (but) I don’t want people to think I’ve settled with that. I’m hungrier than ever and I like the huge nights way too much to let it go now. I’m happy to win the belts and go to Vegas for the rematch.”

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What on earth is Crolla talking about Vegas for? Linares isn’t from the United States. Linares is from Venezuela, and he lives in beautiful Tokyo, Japan. Why would Crolla want to fight a rematch with Linares in the United States? He might as well have selected Russia for the rematch, because it makes about as much sense. If they stage Crolla vs. Linares in the United States, they’ll hear crickets chirping as far as the audience go. How would they go about selling tickets for a rematch between Crolla and Linares in the U.S with neither of them being known to the casual boxing fans? It doesn’t make sense to me. Why stage a rematch between two non-American fighters in the U.S when it’s not going to sell?

I think it’s way too early for Crolla to be talking about his precious legacy. He beat a paper champion in Darleys Perez to win his WBA lightweight title, and then he recently beat an aging fighter with no real experience in Barroso. Crolla hasn’t beaten any of the talented lightweights in the division. How about Crolla fighting Mikey Garcia? If Crolla gets through that fight in one piece, then he can go on about his legacy, but until then, it’s a waste of time because he’s never beaten anyone good in my opinion.

I don’t rate Perez or Barroso as good fighters. Crolla hasn’t beaten Dejan Zlaticanin or Terry Flanagan. If Crolla beats those two guys along with Linares, then he can start talking about his precious legacy. Until then, he needs to clam up and focus on fighting rather than getting lost in reverie about how he’ll be perceived after his career is over.

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“Sometimes I have to pinch myself. Everyone in the gym are fans of Jorge Linares. (Super middleweight contender and stablemate) Callum Smith isn’t sure who to cheer for on the night. I think (Linares) is a great fighter, but on the night that respect goes out the window and we’re fighting for one of the great prizes in the sport,” said Linares.

Crolla will be lucky if he doesn’t get knocked out in this fight. He needs to stop pinching himself about him getting a chance to fight the talented Linares, and he needs to focus in what he can do to keep from getting knocked out.

I think this fight is going to go badly for Crolla. He’s finally facing someone really good after years of beating weak opposition, and I think it’s going to be a brutal shock for him when he gets inside the ring with Linares. When Crolla starts getting outclassed in this fight, he’s going to wish he could be teleported out of there. I’ll be here to say ‘I told you so.’