By Elliot Foster

Anthony Crolla is targeting a fight in the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas –– after beginning to cement his legacy in his next outing.

The WBA champion takes on the consensus best lightweight in the world in the shape of Jorge Linares on September 24 at Manchester Arena, with his belt, plus the WBC Diamond and prestigious Ring Magazine baubles at stake.

Crolla (31-4-3, 13 KOs) knows that victory against Linares (40-3, 27 KOs), just four months after stopping Ismael Barroso –– who was hailed as the division’s most dangerous fighter –– inside seven rounds, will lift him to the number one spot in the 135-pound weight class.

After capturing the WBA title last year with a devastating body shot to stop Darleys Perez in round five in their rematch, which was ordered after the first showdown between the pair last July was inexplicably called a draw, the 29-year-old Mostonian is on a roll and he knows where a victory against the Venezuelan, who is two years Crolla’s senior at 31.

“This is a legacy fight for me,” Crolla said. “Every young kid wants to become a world champion and I’ve done that now.

“I’m hungrier than ever and I like the huge nights way too much to let it go now –– and I certainly don’t want people to think that I’m resting on my laurels and that I’m settled with that."

Not only is Crolla dreaming of dethroning Linares as the division’s best, the former British champion at lightweight plans to humiliate his foe not once but twice as he aims to beat him on home turf and then doing the same on foreign soil –– in American boxing’s holy grail: Las Vegas.

“The arena is going to be rocking and that’s my house, and I want to keep those three belts in Manchester," Crolla said. "We’re working so, so hard in the gym because Jorge Linares is a phenomenal fighter, and I’m honoured to be fighting him in my house.

"The energy the crowd will give me is going to help me produce the career-best performance I will need to beat Jorge Linares.

“Then once I’ve beaten Linares in Manchester,” Crolla continued, “we can go to Vegas for the rematch and I can defend my belts in America.”