Quiet man Crolla ready to rumble
ANTHONY Crolla believes being locked away in his latest training camp has made him better than ever ahead of his rematch with Jorge Linares.
The New Moston boxer will look to gain revenge when he faces Linares for the WBA, WBC Diamond and Ring Magazine lightweight titles at the Manchester Arena on Saturday.
Crolla’s trainer Joe Gallagher insisted his fighter had to be left alone in the build-up to the bout in order to get the best out of him.
Those plans appear to have worked – and Crolla believes it has paid off over the last few weeks.
“I feel at my best. I’ve not been running about here, there and everywhere and I’m in a really good place,” he told M.E.N. Sport.
“I’ve been relaxing more and when I’m not training, I’ve just been spending time with my family which is great.
“My training has been really smart and I’ve been doing a lot of yoga, so I am more flexible than I’ve been before and I feel younger than ever.
“I really think I’ve improved a lot since the first fight but now I’ve got to make sure I show it on fight night.
“We wanted to make sure I was focused in the build-up and I’ve got a great set of mates that always look out for me.
“I’ve never been the type to do so, but if I ever had the temptation to go and have a night out too close to a fight then they wouldn’t go with me.
“They’ve always got the best interest for me, and over the years they still don’t treat me any differently. They just treat me worse and give me more stick!”
It’s set to be a busy night for Crolla’s trainer Gallagher on Saturday, with stablemates Marcus Morrison and Hosea Burton also in action on the undercard.
Rising prospect Morrison faces a step up in competition when he faces Jason Welborn, while Burton will hope to get back to winning ways when he returns for the first time since losing his British lightheavyweight title to Frank Buglioni in December.
It was also a surprisingly busy night for Gallagher on Saturday, as Liam Smith quietly returned to action with an unannounced bout in Spain.
Smith defeated Marian Cazacu on points after four rounds at Club Entrena in Barcelona in his first fight since losing his WBO light-middleweight title to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in September.
Gallagher saw a familiar face at the event in Barcelona, as Linares’ trainer Ismael Salas also had a fighter on the bill.