Crolla off Stateside for world title shot
ANTHONY Crolla is set for a dream showdown with pound-for-pound king Vasyl Lomachenko – but he will have to head to the US for the fight.
The Mancunian became mandatory challenger for WBA lightweight champion Lomachenko after he defeated Daud Yordan at the Manchester Arena on Saturday.
The 31-year-old won the fight by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring it 116-112 in his favour.
It means Crolla now has the opportunity to become world champion again, having previously won the WBA belt back in 2015 when he defeated Darleys Perez.
Before attention can turn to a fight with Lomachenko, the Ukrainian must first get through his next fight, as he takes on WBO lightweight champion Jose Pedraza in a unification fight next month.
If Lomachenko is victorious, the bout between him and Crolla could take place in spring next year, and promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed the details behind the potential clash.
“The WBA will call the mandatory after Pedraza. We’ll be bidding with DAZN, and Top Rank will be bidding, so Anthony Crolla is going to make a fortune and he deserves it,” said Hearn.
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s a complete disaster of a fight for any man in boxing and Crolla is right up against it. But he’s done everything else so why not go to New York or Vegas and fight for seven figures? It won’t be in Manchester. We want it in America. So we will go to purse bids and let Crolla make all the money in the world. Then maybe he can float off into retirement. Lomachenko is going to fight on December 8, so it’s not going to be until April or May. Crolla can sit tight until then.”
The bout between Crolla and Yordan was competitive throughout the 12 rounds, but in the end the Manchester boxer was able to do enough SAM Hyde had to be pulled out of his fight on the undercard of Tony Bellew’s bout after he suffered an horrific looking ‘freak’ eye injury. Hyde, from Sale, enjoyed some success in the early rounds against Richard Riakporhe and was ahead on points when he was hit with a big shot which caused the injury in the eighth round. The 25-year-old stayed on his feet, but the swelling quickly closed up his eye.
After seeing the extent of the injury, described by pundits as one of the worst they’d ever seen, trainer Joe Gallagher threw the towel in and referee Steve Gray stopped the fight.
The ‘freak’ injury saw Hyde lose his unblemished record. to come out on top after a back and forth battle, much to his delight.
Crolla said: “All credit to Daud Yordan, he pushed me all the way. People are going to have their own opinions but I’m not going to be disrespectful to Lomachenko and call him out. But if I’m his mandatory and could have that, then I would love to.”
Meanwhile, Tony Bellew ended his boxing career with no regrets and now wants to fade into obscurity after he was knocked out by undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk at the Arena.
An emotional but magnanimous Bellew said: “I just tried to take that one final step and, you know what, I wasn’t good enough but I’ll be able to live with that forever. The fact of the matter is he’s better than me. It’s boxing at the highest level so you’ve got to accept you can’t always win.”