RINGSIDE NOTES

l TONY BELLEW, working on the Sky broadcast, was particularly vocal during the main event, yelling at Crolla to “make it ugly” and insisting that Linares was tiring late on.

l THERE were roughly 15,000 in the arena for the main event, and although Rose-arnfield almost took the sting out of the atmosphere, the crowd created a cauldron of noise by the time Linares and Crolla ring-walked.

l ALL of the fights up to and including the main event went the distance, meaning the show was slightly behind schedule. Okolie’s and Tatham’s fights had to be staged after the main event, and they both ended in the first round.

l IT was chaos after the main event. A crowd gathered near press row next to the ring as Crolla was being interviewed, and it was right in the way of where the fighters for the last two bouts needed to walk through to enter the ring. One member of security staff argued with a member of the media and threatened to throw her out when she asked him to disperse the crowd so she could continue her work.

l OKOLIE was originally scheduled to appear on the Sky Sports broadcast but had to settle for boxing after the main event when the cameras had been turned off and most of the crowd had left.

l TEN bells were rung before the main event to pay tribute to Ed Bilbey, an amateur boxer who died after a bout last week, and those who were killed and injured during the terror attack in Westminster.