Crolla hopes for date with destiny as Vasyl a reality
ANTHONY Crolla believes he has spotted a weakness in Vasyl Lomachenko.
The Manchester fighter is hoping to be confirmed as the Ukrainian star’s next opponent as he looks for one last crack at becoming a twotime world champion.
Lomachenko, who is rated one of the world’s best fighters pound for pound, was due to face Richard Commey in a unification battle, but that has been put on hold after the Ghanaian suffered a hand injury in his IBF title win over Isa Chaniev.
That means Crolla, as mandatory challenger, is now next in line for the WBA and WBO lightweight champion, who had been due to return to action on April 12.
“The unification has been agreed between Vasyl Lomachenko and Commey, but he hurt his knuckle in that fight,” former WBA champ Crolla said.
“If that’s the case, then I think that me and Vasyl Lomachenko will fight first. I’m just waiting on news now, like everyone else.”
Crolla, who lost his world title to Jorge Linares, has been studying the 32-year-old in preparation for the fight. And he believes he has found a way to beat the champion, who has lost just once early in his career.
He said: “Listen, there’s no doubt he’s a special fighter, but he’s very unorthodox, so how do you study, how do you come up with a gameplan for a fighter like that?
“But like every other fighter, we’ll watch as many fights as possible. We’re lucky with Lomachenko, there’s so much footage on him. He does a lot of things very well, but we think we can do well to unsettle him, and cause a huge upset.
“I believe that I can win a world title again, and these are the kind of fights that I’m in it for. This is the biggest fight that can be made out there for me.
“I’ve earned it, it’s not like I’ve been given this shot. Since losing my title to Jorge Linares, I’ve come back and had three solid wins. I’ve not won the lottery or not won a raffle to fight Vasyl Lomachenko, so I’m looking forward to it and I’m loving training as I’m get older.
“No man is unbeatable. It’s been proven with Lomachenko. He lost early on in his career.”
Lomachenko was in Manchester to watch Oleksandr Usyk beat Tony Bellew at the Arena last year. And Crolla’s trainer Joe Gallagher believes what he saw that night could tempt the champion to fight Crolla in Manchester. “He was here when Usyk fought Bellew, he’s seen the crowd, the atmosphere,” Gallagher said.
“The support would come out and that would be a great atmosphere. Fingers crossed now and that would be Anthony’s date with destiny.”