By Jake Donovan
This weekend's highly anticipated lightweight clash is all set as Anthony Crolla and Jorge Linares easily made weight for the headlining act at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.
Crolla tipped in at 134.5 lbs. for his latest homecoming, while the visiting Linares weighed 134.1 lbs.
Their scheduled 12-round battle will air live on Sky Sports in the UK and on AWE (A Wealth of Entertainment) TV in the U.S.
It's been a triumphant comeback for Crolla (31-4-3, 13KOs), the type that not even a Hollywood screenwriter could properly script. The all-action Mancunian suffered near-fatal injuries while fending off burglars attempting to rob a neighbor's house, a horrific event that preceded an eventually canceled title bid versus then-lightweight titlist Richar (not Richard) Abril last January.
He wound up fighting for that very title in his first fight back, though held to a controversial draw versus Colombia's Darleys Perez last July in the very same arena hosting this weekend's affair. The two returned to the venue last November, where Crolla secured the fairy-tale ending he sought in scoring a 5th round knockout.
One successful defense has followed, a 7th round knockout of Ismael Barroso this past May. Satirday's affair will mark Crolla's fourth straight appearance at his home venue.
Linares (40-3, 27KOs) enters the bout having won his past nine starts, including four consecutive stoppage victories. The technically proficient - yet inexplicably flawed - boxer from Venezuela has won titles in three weight divisions, but injuries forced him to give up the lightweight title earlier this year.
Thus, he seeks to become a two-time lightweight titlist this Saturday, as opposed to the bout serving as the unification bout the promotion has falsely advertised. Still, the 31-year old remains among the top-rated lightweights in the world.
His one flaw remains his inability to overcome adversity. All of Linares' defeats have come via stoppage, in situations where he was unable to turn the tide once he was dropped or in trouble. Juan Carlos Salgado ended his super featherweight reign - and his run as an undefeated two-division titlist - with a 1st round knockout in Oct. '09.
Linares scored four straight wins before hitting a rough patch. He was ahead on the cards before falling apart late in his Oct. '15 vacant lightweight title fight versus Antonio DeMarco, suffering an 11th round TKO loss. Disaster struck once again some five months later, when he was dropped and eventually stopped in two rounds by Mexico's Sergio Thompson.
Nine consecutive wins have followed, including a vacant lightweight title win over lightly regarded Javier Prieto in Dec. '14. Three defenses followed, only for a planned mandatory title defense versus Dejan Zlaticanin to fall by the wayside after Linares reportedly suffered an injury during sparring. He was forced to cancel the bout, a move that led to a downgrade from WBC champion to "Diamond" titlist, which is a glorified placeholder for a guaranteed title shot.
Rather than return to face Zlaticanin - who now holds the WBC title - Linares went for the more lucrative showdown versus Crolla, a bout that Golden Boy Promotions and Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing have wanted all along. At one point, there was even an attempt to convince promoter Lou DiBella to steer Zlaticanin in a different direction in order to secure what would have been a unification bout. Shortly thereafter came the aforementioned injury to make it a moot point.
Regardless of the belts at stake in present day, Crolla vs. Linares still serves as the signature bout of this weekend.
Twitter: @JakeNDaBox_v2
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