BATTLE JOINED
Crolla rewards his hometown faithful with victory
Anthony Crolla and Ricky Burns stage crowd-pleasing war in Manchester
RICKY BURNS slammed down the final jab of the fight just as the last bell rang. At that Anthony Crolla
dropped his guard and, through a smear of blood, broke into a smile.
They had boxed with a rare intensity but without malice. This had been all about the fight. There was no world title waiting on the ring apron for either man. Their rivalry was not personal, their prospects not desperate. Both would have a future after these 12 rounds. They simply wanted to win, and ten thousand filled the Manchester Arena to watch them try.
The two began warily, circling one another as they sought to establish their jabs. Burns, a former three weight world titlist, was markedly the taller man. He put his range to use, manoeuvring on the backfoot as he planted solid lead lefts.
But in the first half of the fight Crolla applied himself with greater aggression and worked with more variety. He jabbed high to the head, to bring his right hook round to the body. He fired in his cross, shooting it into the stomach beneath Burns’ jab.
The Scotsman’s hands were heavier. They swapped uppercuts in the fourth round, Ricky’s landing with greater weight. But Crolla’s punches flowed more easily. In the fifth Anthony clipped Burns with a left hook that stopped him in his tracks. Ricky increased his output, but began to miss more too.
Pushing himself forward, Burns forced Crolla to the ropes in the eighth round. He pressed in furiously but the Mancunian spun him round, reversed his position and attacked to a thunderous roar from the crowd.
‘I THOUGHT I’D DONE ENOUGH. I DIDN’T TAKE THAT MANY CLEAN SHOTS’
In the ninth Crolla banged his right over the top, countering the jab. But Ricky sent his hefty right slashing down, a dangerous punch here when he launched it through the middle. The home fighter stamped his mark in the 10th round, snagging Ricky’s head on the end of combinations. Burns hauled himself backwards, the shots forcing him away. Crolla stepped in with a jab, right uppercut, left hook salvo.
Over the final two rounds Burns stood his ground, mixing up his punches. He whipped a tremendous right uppercut through, bloodying Anthony’s nose. He drove in a strong right while Crolla couldn’t resist striding forward to wade back into the exchanges.
Burns had come into the contest but hadn’t wrested control from the Mancunian.
The judges were unanimous, 116-113 from Victor Loughlin, 117-112 from Steve Gray and 116-114 from Michael Alexander, all for Anthony Crolla. Referee was Terry O’connor.
Burns called for a rematch in Glasgow. “I did think I’d done enough,” he said. “I didn’t take that many clean shots. I was boxing well behind my jab. I was catching Anthony regularly throughout the rounds.
“This fight we agreed to everything that they wanted; Manchester, even moving back down to lightweight. So I think it would only be fair, let’s get it back at the Hydro.”
Crolla had no objections but can also expect a return to world title competition. “I enjoyed it, I hope Ricky did,” he smiled. “I thought I was winning well early on. But I was worried the fight was a bit boring and I thought I’ve got to do something here. It was a great atmosphere, a great crowd, I thought I’ve got to give them something to sing about, to shout about.”
Sam Eggington conceded his European welterweight title in an uncharacteristically tame performance. Mandatory challenger Mohamed
Mimoune fought initially to keep himself out of trouble, slinging his punches round to swing himself clear. But with each passing round it dawned on him that he could outland and outbox the subdued Eggington. Sam trudged into the line of fine, waiting inexplicably and, before he could uncork a shot, Mimoune would smack a southpaw right hook through an opening and pivot away from him. Eggington let too many rounds slip away until he finally began to increase his intensity and drive Mimoune into the ropes. He thumped his right through, slowing up the Frenchman when he attacked the body. But Eggington deservedly lost the decision. Even though judge Arnold Golger scored 116-112 for him, Jan Christensen and Massimiliano Bianco ruled 116-112 and 115-113 respectively for Mimoune. Oliver Brien refereed. Lewis Ritson tore the British
lightweight title from Robbie Barrett’s possession in brutal style. He marched after the Yorkshireman, gloves high to block Barrett’s punches, and he blasted hard blows into the champion. In the second round a right caught Robbie flush on the chin. He flopped limply to the canvas. He managed to recover himself but had to move off constantly.
His shots just didn’t have the weight behind them to repel Ritson. Whereas when the Newcastle man landed, he hit to hurt.
➤ Ritson put him down twice in the sixth. Ritson laid into him with savage combinations, his left hook jolting his head. Even Lewis knew it was over then but Steve Gray declined to step in.
Only at 2-27 of round seven when another left hook thundered into Barrett’s body, dropping him to his knees did the referee stop it, once Barrett’s corner had thrown in the towel. Unrequired judges were Mr O’connor, Mr Loughlin and Mr Alexander.
Conor Benn is inexperienced but did little wrong against Nathan Clark. As Clarke lunged for him, Benn detonated a sudden right cross, a stunning blow that dropped Nathan. The Winsford man beat the count and tried to fire back. Ilford’s Benn slammed in heavy punches to have the final say, slamming Clarke back to the canvas. He rose and as Conor set about him referee Darren Sarginson halted it at 2-16 of the first round.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist
Charlie Flynn came south of the border to harry Liam Richards over the course of six rounds. His jab prodded the Melksham man on to the backfoot and when Flynn trapped Richards on the ropes he opened up with thudding right hands. Charlie kept up the pressure but had to settle for 60-54 points win from referee Sarginson.
Doncaster’s former world title challenger Gavin Mcdonnell
dispatched diminutive Joszef Ajtai
with efficient cruelty. As the Hungarian attempted to scamper away, Mcdonnell hacked him off his feet. He put Ajtai down a second time with a left hook to the body and right to the head. Referee Phil Edwards had seen enough after 2-04 of the first round.
Cruiserweight Sam Hyde came through a fourth round crisis as he fought Gheorge Danut. Their legs tangled and Hyde fell badly, seriously hurting his knee. That undid the Mancunian’s balance. He battled to keep his legs under him and to keep the aggressive Romanian at bay. A left from Danut forced Hyde down. He snapped his head clear of a punch only for his leg to collapse beneath him and drop him to the deck. He clung on, leaning on the ropes to avoid disaster and win the six-round decision 58-55 for referee Phil Edwards.
Former British lightweight champion Scott Cardle dominated Lee Connelly
over six rounds. Initially his right hook was wayward but he soon found the mark with it and subjected the Killamarsh man to sustained punishment in the fifth round, hammering Lee to the body and the head as Connelly’s arms tired and he struggled to fight a way clear of the ropes. Cardle eased up in the last round to win 59-56 for referee Mr Sarginson.
Hosea Burton needed 80 seconds to destroy Ratu Latianara. The Edinburgh based Fijiian blundered forward and as he leant in close Burton whipped a wicked right uppercut into his chin. Ratu fell heavily. He beat the count, only for Hosea to step in with a hefty right and land a left hook to drop him a second time. Hosea stayed busy, wobbling him with another left. Referee Mr Edwards saved Latinara from more punishment after just 80 seconds.
Manchester’s Marcus Morrison dropped Mariusz Biskupski in the third round and clubbed the Pole back to the canvas for referee Edwards to stop it at 0-59 of the fourth. Macclesfield man Jake Haigh took a four round win, 40-36, over Westbury’s Anthony Fox. Glasgow’s
Joe Ham also won every round against Barcelona’s Jose Aguilar, finishing 60-54 ahead after six. Active throughout, Ryan Doyle outscored Lesther Cantillano
40-36 for referee Darren Sarginson over four rounds.
THE VERDICT A lively battle shows that both veterans have much to offer.