Anthony Crolla-Jorge Linares a crucial bout in rising lightweight division
Anthony Crolla will defend his WBA lightweight title against three-weight champion Jorge Linares this Saturday in Manchester, England. Crolla-Linares is a marquee bout in a lightweight division that appears to be on the rise.
The lightweight division, partly by virtue of having been one of boxing’s original weight classes, has historically been home to genuinely marquee fighters. Like welterweight, middleweight or heavyweight, being lightweight champion carries a certain significance. Although 135 pounds has recently found itself somewhat devoid of star power, Saturday’s Anthony Crolla-Jorge Linares WBA title fight is a compelling contest.
Crolla (31-4-3, 13 KOs) and Linares (40-3, 27 KOs) are known to boxing fans but hardly household names in the United States. However, with British boxing in the midst of a golden era of sorts, and the sport enjoying a truly global presence, the barometer of a fighter’s worth lying in their Stateside appeal is fortunately becoming less ingrained.
This is good news for Anthony Crolla and Jorge Linares, who will meet in front of a raucous, pro-Crolla crowd in Manchester. Linares, who was stripped of his WBC title due to inactivity caused by a hand injury, is viewed by many as the division’s best current fighter; Crolla, though, seems to be peaking, which imbues this match-up — a promising stylistic clash — with genuine intrigue.
Jorge Linares has rebounded admirably after a 4-3 stretch between 2009 and 2012. Now a three-division champion, Linares is an excellent boxer and hard-hitter, who put some of his punch-resistance demons to rest when he rose from the canvas to stop UK favorite Kevin Mitchell two fights ago in a brutal thriller. Anthony Crolla’s last two wins — stoppages of Darleys Perez and Ismael Barroso — have seen him combine new levels of power and confidence to devastating effect.
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WBO champion Terry Flanagan is also based in the UK, meaning that unification fights are realistic in the near future. Dejan Zlatincanin claimed Linares’ vacant WBC title, and Robert Easter Jr. narrowly outpointed Ghanian Richard Commey a couple of weeks ago in tremendous fight to become IBF champion. Both Easter and Commey figure to be major players at 135 going forward.
And don’t forget about (over?) hyped contender Felix Verdejo, who figures to land a title shot immanently, or two-weight champion Rances Barthelemy. Verdejo and Barthelemy, who has only fought once so far in 2016, would be compelling challengers for any currently lightweight titlist.
The winner of Anthony Crolla-Jorge Linares will be in an enviable position to dictate terms at 135. Robert Easter Jr. figures to get a title defense or two under his belt after such a gruelling fight against Commey, but either Crolla or Linares could eye Terry Flanagan for the early part of 2017 in what would be a massive unification fight in Britain.
The positive aspect of the current crop of elite lightweights having somewhat low profiles is that they’ll be eager to distinguish themselves. For fighters like Anthony Crolla and Jorge Linares, the time to make their marks is now; both are in their athletic primes and need to capitalize on the division’s current open landscape. Luckily, they’re starting off in an ideal way by fighting each other.
So, who do you think wins the Anthony Crolla-Jorge Linares fight? And who is most likely to emerge as the best lightweight in the world over the next year? Let us know in the comments section below.
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