Title snatched away

Crolla: title cruelly snatched away

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BOXING:

SPORT can be cruel sometimes - and the boxing gods wern’t on the side of braveheart Anthony Crolla on Saturday night.

Giving it absolutely everything in pursuit of a dream WBA world lightweight title win against Colombian tough guy Darleys Perez in front of 13,000 raucous fight fans at the Manchester Arena, Crolla saw that dream snatched away by one of the most controversial decisions in years.

But the boxer will be back - and is now more determined than ever to eventually take a world title belt home to Chadderton.

Despite being a huge underdog ahead of his challenge to win Perez’s title, Crolla went toe to toe with his opponent for the full 12 rounds and after a branstorming final four - during which Perez had also been deducted two points for low blows - it appeared ‘Million Dollar’ had done enough.

But with two judges scoring the contest 113-113 and the other 116-111 for Crollar, it just wasn’t enough. A majority draw was the final result, which left Perez to fly back home with the title belt and the end of a hugely emotional, eight-month spell for the local boxer.

The 28-year-old battler was devastated, but had done himself and the whole of his beloved Manchester proud in going agonisingly close to a fairy-tale ending.

“At the end of the fight I thought I’d edged it,” said Crolla, almost out on his feet after a punishing battle. “With the two points deducted I definitely thought I’d done enough to take the belt. It just wasn’t meant to be, but at the same time I’m lucky. To gain a reception like that is something not many people get to experience. It was almost a dream come true.”

Crolla’s big-time promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed that a swift re-match with Perez could well be on the cards:: “We have to build on this momentum now,” said Hearn. “The first thing is to try to get the WBA to order the rematch. If they say no, we’ll have to pay Perez a bit more money to come over again, which won’t be a problem.

“We know Anthony can sell out this Arena now. He’ll headline on his own next time. That’s what we all want for him now.”



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