Crolla: I don’t want this feeling to end

Anthony Crolla - loving being champion

ANTHONY Crolla is living out his dream of being a reigning world champion — but he knows how tough it will be to defend his WBA lightweight title.

Crolla makes his first defence against Venezuelan hard-man Ismael Barroso on May 7.

The Manchester Arena will be buzzing when Crolla (29) will hope to back up the title he took so dramatically in November when he knocked out Colombian Darleys Perez in the fifth round.

Some rate Chadderton-based Crolla as the underdog against Barroso, who has had an unblemished 19-fight professional career.

But that doesn’t concern Crolla: “I don’t feel disrespected by that at all, but we all know Barroso hasn’t put a foot wrong in his career yet. It’s not often the champion goes into a defence as the underdog. It’s not something I necessarily like, but all my best performances in the past have come when I was the underdog.

“I never want to lose this world title. I’ve achieved my dream of becoming a world champion, and I don’t want it to ever end. I want more and more of these big nights. I want to be involved in lots more yet.”

A potential domestic dust-up with Manchester rival and WBO lightweight king Terry Flanagan has been mooted, but Crolla is currently focused only on the forthcoming bout

“The only fighter I’m looking at the moment is Ismael Barroso — I’d be a fool to overlook him. I’ve been watching some of his fights - but you do have to weigh up the calibre of some of the opposition.”