By Scott Gilfoid: After getting a controversial draw last July in his failed attempt to capture the WBA “regular” lightweight title against champion Darleys Perez (32-1-1, 20 KOs), #11 WBA Anthony Crolla (29-4-3, 11 KOs) will be getting another chance to win the WBA title against Perez on November 21st at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, UK. This time Crolla expects to leave no doubt in the minds of the judges by looking to dominate Perez. Crolla took a lot of punishment in that fight from Perez, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Crolla comes into the rematch at 75% of what he was the first time around.
The World Boxing Association has ordered the rematch between Crolla and Perez to clear up the controversy from their last fight.
Crolla was quite fortunate to get a draw last time against Perez, because Crolla would have lost the fight if the referee hadn’t taken points off in the 11th and 12th rounds for Perez landing low blows. The referee literally saved Crolla from losing by taking those points away. The point deduction in the 12th came when Crolla pulled Perez’s head forward to the point where he was in a bent over position while he was in the process of throwing a punch.