Anthony Crolla (c) vs. Jorge Linares - September 24th 2016

[Autobarn]

I'm impressed with this fight whether the WBC belt is on the line or not, full credit to Crolla who could have taken far easier options than this. I didn't get on the Crolla bandwagon initially but I have really started to appreciate him over his last few contests...

Well said. Who cares what titles are on the line. In any case Linares didn't lose his title in the ring. And this Zleticanin BoxRec Momster didn't win the vacant belt against anyone good.

I'm going for Crolla. Linares will give him trouble though, as he has the speed and variety to open up the tight guard of Crolla. I feel Crolla - in his physical peak - will hurt Limares enough to win a hard fight.

If Crolla wins he has the fight Zleticanin so that's potentially two very good consecutive fights for Crolla.

[crusader]

I'm not really sure why you keep going on about Zlaticanin like that. He's hardly being made out to be a monster, just one of the top lightweights, and I can't recall many suggestions that he'd be far too much for Crolla.

Linares didn't lose the belt in the ring, but defending against his dangerous mandatory was part of his obligation as champ. Hopefully the winner of this fight will square off with Zlat in the near future.

[Autobarn]

I keep reading that he's too much for Crolla, too much for Linares. That he's pretty much the rightful champion. I was expecting him to be some kind of monster, then watched his pretty tame fight against Ricky Burns. Then I remembered he was the little lightweight that Burns was absolutely slated for not beating. Props to him for making something of his career since then.

I'm sure if Crolla gets by Linares that the Montenegran will be a decent and worthy opponent.

[crusader]

Where are you reading all that?

[wesshaw1985]

first question i can imagine Terry asking himself is how in the hell is Crolla/Linares being called a unification fight?
second question being why are Eddie, Tesco Joe and Crolla ducking me so hard?

Or... First question, wtf am I doing fighting fana, second question, can I join matchroom ?

That sounds more like it.

Wes saying that Crolla is ducking Flannagan is amusing & belongs more on the current scene than here.

"Crolla's a coward"

Crolla, by not demanding the fight, is effectively ducking Terry.
according to W@rren and now Steve Wood the Flanagan team wanted to make the fight happen.

Steve Wood ‏@SteveWoodVIP - 4 hours ago
@EddieHearn @NFFCMANN @terryflanagan5 - No one has ever said he was,but we think Terry is best in Manchester and was willing to prove it

Hearn and co clearly don't want the fight anytime soon probably because they know Flanagan more than likely beats Crolla.

There is no debating Fana is a crap fight. Linares is a good opponent, Zlatican or Barthelemy would have been better and genuine unification fights however...

[JimJim2009]

Due to the difference in platforms, fwank and terry need sky/Crolla but it doesn't work the other way round. I cannot see Eddie ever giving fwank a chance on sky. Eddie has come on a long way over the past few years and the next quantum leap for his operation would be if BN went bust. I enjoy eddies stuff on ifilm but I am pretty sure he is trying, where possible, to run fwank right into the ground. There is no point doing that if, on the other hand, you do a joint promotion on sky and risk letting terry come in and beat Crolla. I don't see it happening. I doubt fwank really cares but he needs to make all the right noises for appearances sake. Arguably, fwank is more in the tv channel business than the boxing business these days, it creates a glass ceiling for purses for his fighters as terry is finding out when he compares his purses to those of Crolla on sky.

[wesshaw1985]

Due to the difference in platforms, fwank and terry need sky/Crolla but it doesn't work the other way round. I cannot see Eddie ever giving fwank a chance on sky. Eddie has come on a long way over the past few years and the next quantum leap for his operation would be if BN went bust. I enjoy eddies stuff on ifilm but I am pretty sure he is trying, where possible, to run fwank right into the ground. There is no point doing that if, on the other hand, you do a joint promotion on sky and risk letting terry come in and beat Crolla. I don't see it happening. I doubt fwank really cares but he needs to make all the right noises for appearances sake. Arguably, fwank is more in the tv channel business than the boxing business these days, it creates a glass ceiling for purses for his fighters as terry is finding out when he compares his purses to those of Crolla on sky.

Crolla only got a bump in pay in his last fight due to W@rren offering him 500k to face Flanagan so neither is making astronomical money at the moment.
Crolla should be demanding Hearn works a deal out with W@rren to make the biggest fight in the division happen.
It would be PPV and the biggest payday he can earn at LW.
The only reason i can see for Crolla not chasing the fight and the big money is that he doesn't believe he can beat Flanagan...

[JimJim2009]

Due to the difference in platforms, fwank and terry need sky/Crolla but it doesn't work the other way round. I cannot see Eddie ever giving fwank a chance on sky. Eddie has come on a long way over the past few years and the next quantum leap for his operation would be if BN went bust. I enjoy eddies stuff on ifilm but I am pretty sure he is trying, where possible, to run fwank right into the ground. There is no point doing that if, on the other hand, you do a joint promotion on sky and risk letting terry come in and beat Crolla. I don't see it happening. I doubt fwank really cares but he needs to make all the right noises for appearances sake. Arguably, fwank is more in the tv channel business than the boxing business these days, it creates a glass ceiling for purses for his fighters as terry is finding out when he compares his purses to those of Crolla on sky.

Crolla only got a bump in pay in his last fight due to W@rren offering him 500k to face Flanagan so neither is making astronomical money at the moment.
Crolla should be demanding Hearn works a deal out with W@rren to make the biggest fight in the division happen.
It would be PPV and the biggest payday he can earn at LW.
The only reason i can see for Crolla not chasing the fight and the big money is that he doesn't believe he can beat Flanagan...[/quote

I don't either. I'm sure crolla would fight anyone but Hearn will swerve it.

[Taansend]

Due to the difference in platforms, fwank and terry need sky/Crolla but it doesn't work the other way round. I cannot see Eddie ever giving fwank a chance on sky. Eddie has come on a long way over the past few years and the next quantum leap for his operation would be if BN went bust. I enjoy eddies stuff on ifilm but I am pretty sure he is trying, where possible, to run fwank right into the ground. There is no point doing that if, on the other hand, you do a joint promotion on sky and risk letting terry come in and beat Crolla. I don't see it happening. I doubt fwank really cares but he needs to make all the right noises for appearances sake. Arguably, fwank is more in the tv channel business than the boxing business these days, it creates a glass ceiling for purses for his fighters as terry is finding out when he compares his purses to those of Crolla on sky.

Crolla only got a bump in pay in his last fight due to W@rren offering him 500k to face Flanagan so neither is making astronomical money at the moment.
Crolla should be demanding Hearn works a deal out with W@rren to make the biggest fight in the division happen.
It would be PPV and the biggest payday he can earn at LW.
The only reason i can see for Crolla not chasing the fight and the big money is that he doesn't believe he can beat Flanagan...

But isn't he making big money already?

[Wales]

Due to the difference in platforms, fwank and terry need sky/Crolla but it doesn't work the other way round. I cannot see Eddie ever giving fwank a chance on sky. Eddie has come on a long way over the past few years and the next quantum leap for his operation would be if BN went bust. I enjoy eddies stuff on ifilm but I am pretty sure he is trying, where possible, to run fwank right into the ground. There is no point doing that if, on the other hand, you do a joint promotion on sky and risk letting terry come in and beat Crolla. I don't see it happening. I doubt fwank really cares but he needs to make all the right noises for appearances sake. Arguably, fwank is more in the tv channel business than the boxing business these days, it creates a glass ceiling for purses for his fighters as terry is finding out when he compares his purses to those of Crolla on sky.

Crolla only got a bump in pay in his last fight due to W@rren offering him 500k to face Flanagan so neither is making astronomical money at the moment.
Crolla should be demanding Hearn works a deal out with W@rren to make the biggest fight in the division happen.
It would be PPV and the biggest payday he can earn at LW.
The only reason i can see for Crolla not chasing the fight and the big money is that he doesn't believe he can beat Flanagan...

Hand on heart you think Crolla doesn't believe he can beat Flanagan? Really?
Clearly you've never spent time around a fighter.

You can bet your arse Crolla believes / knows he'll beat Flanagan. Same as Terry believes / knows he'll beat Crolla. The only reason the fight isn't happening is down to promoters.

[Taansend]

Due to the difference in platforms, fwank and terry need sky/Crolla but it doesn't work the other way round. I cannot see Eddie ever giving fwank a chance on sky. Eddie has come on a long way over the past few years and the next quantum leap for his operation would be if BN went bust. I enjoy eddies stuff on ifilm but I am pretty sure he is trying, where possible, to run fwank right into the ground. There is no point doing that if, on the other hand, you do a joint promotion on sky and risk letting terry come in and beat Crolla. I don't see it happening. I doubt fwank really cares but he needs to make all the right noises for appearances sake. Arguably, fwank is more in the tv channel business than the boxing business these days, it creates a glass ceiling for purses for his fighters as terry is finding out when he compares his purses to those of Crolla on sky.

Crolla only got a bump in pay in his last fight due to W@rren offering him 500k to face Flanagan so neither is making astronomical money at the moment.
Crolla should be demanding Hearn works a deal out with W@rren to make the biggest fight in the division happen.
It would be PPV and the biggest payday he can earn at LW.
The only reason i can see for Crolla not chasing the fight and the big money is that he doesn't believe he can beat Flanagan...

Hand on heart you think Crolla doesn't believe he can beat Flanagan? Really?
Clearly you've never spent time around a fighter.

You can bet your arse Crolla believes / knows he'll beat Flanagan. Same as Terry believes / knows he'll beat Crolla. The only reason the fight isn't happening is down to promoters.

I have to be honest I'm a tad surprised at Wes in this thread. As I said before he's being very "current scene"

[wesshaw1985]

Due to the difference in platforms, fwank and terry need sky/Crolla but it doesn't work the other way round. I cannot see Eddie ever giving fwank a chance on sky. Eddie has come on a long way over the past few years and the next quantum leap for his operation would be if BN went bust. I enjoy eddies stuff on ifilm but I am pretty sure he is trying, where possible, to run fwank right into the ground. There is no point doing that if, on the other hand, you do a joint promotion on sky and risk letting terry come in and beat Crolla. I don't see it happening. I doubt fwank really cares but he needs to make all the right noises for appearances sake. Arguably, fwank is more in the tv channel business than the boxing business these days, it creates a glass ceiling for purses for his fighters as terry is finding out when he compares his purses to those of Crolla on sky.

Crolla only got a bump in pay in his last fight due to W@rren offering him 500k to face Flanagan so neither is making astronomical money at the moment.
Crolla should be demanding Hearn works a deal out with W@rren to make the biggest fight in the division happen.
It would be PPV and the biggest payday he can earn at LW.
The only reason i can see for Crolla not chasing the fight and the big money is that he doesn't believe he can beat Flanagan...

But isn't he making big money already?

Hes making 6 figures at the moment, PPV brings 7 figures.
The opportunity is there and one side clearly wants it. The other side, not so much...

[Andrew]

Crolla would have the Terry fight no problem in fact I think Hearn wants it as he said in interviews he spoke to Flanagans manager Steve Wood about the fight which Warren didn't take too kindly to.

Personally I think it's mainly Gallagher lacking the confidence only had to read what he said about Flanagan on sky's website after the Barroso fight..... People don't know him ... Linares at Old Trafford ..... Excuses excuses all because Flanagan has shown zero flaws so far.

It's clear as day on this forum already we all like the Linares fight but everyone would much rather see Crolla v Flanagan.

[expe]

Crolla would have the Terry fight no problem in fact I think Hearn wants it as he said in interviews he spoke to Flanagans manager Steve Wood about the fight which Warren didn't take too kindly to.

Personally I think it's mainly Gallagher lacking the confidence only had to read what he said about Flanagan on sky's website after the Barroso fight..... People don't know him ... Linares at Old Trafford ..... Excuses excuses all because Flanagan has shown zero flaws so far.

It's clear as day on this forum already we all like the Linares fight but everyone would much rather see Crolla v Flanagan.

If Crolla really wanted he'd have taken it, doesn't need Hearn's approval because he's fight by fight with him rather than being tied down to a contract and Gallagher works for him, not the other way around. Maybe he's too happy to do what his team say but he should have been demanding that fight.

Hearn and Gallagher definitely don't want it. Gallagher's been pretty open about it like you say and Hearn knew what he was doing trying to go through Steve Wood, it was always going to end with the legal letters going out, giving him the excuse that he'd tried to make the fight and been threatened with legal action in return. If he was in the clear legally he'd have carried on at that point because the letters wouldn't have been worth the paper they're written on.

[Hinchy70]

Crolla Showed against Barroso that he has a tight defence, decent chin and an accurate body puncher. Which against the corpse that was Ismael Barroso in round 6, made him appear as a true elite Lightweight.

But can Crolla afford to throw away 4 rounds against Linares?, who I'm sure will land cleaner punches than Barroso, simply due to his cleaner boxing skill set. I conclude not. Will Joe Gallagher continue with his rather baffling constant tactic of out smarting himself?, I can't imagine his arrogance will allow for a change of plan.

This is an elite level fight but I'm sure most on here would love Flanagan/Crolla a tad more. I think Linares edges it on points, Crolla starting cautious will cost him, if Linares wins the first 4, then Crolla must win 7 of the next 8 to get a win.

Crolla has done remarkably well, and I would love a Crolla win, but realistically, his corner has struggled at the highest level. It will Cost him, as it will cost the Smiths and Quigg in future forays into the upper echelon of boxing.

[Autobarn]

Most likely the strategy against Baroso, will not be the strategy against Linares - given the different styles of Baroso and Linares. I'd think the plan would be to start breaking down Linares a bit sooner, not allowing him to get into a smooth rhythm. There's a chance it could involve that.

Or are we so literal minded that we assume one game plan will be every game plan? That all we be identical?

Jamie McDonnell is another fighter who starts slowly and finishes with great authority - without even carrying as much power as Crolla, this approach has enabled him to grind out narrow decisions in his home town of Doncaster and on Al Haymon shows in America, against UK, US, Mexican and Japanese opponents of varying styles. It's an efficient and effective approach to combat. And he isn't trained by Joe Gallagher.

Almost every thread finds a way to attack Crolla, Hearn or Gallagher, interestingly. People can even moan about a matchup as good and worthy as Crolla v Linares, and find something to be miserable or cynical about. A matchup as positive as on September 24 can actually be criticised as a way to duck Flanagan. And Joe Gallagher gets criticised for over thinking things?

[expe]

Most likely the strategy against Baroso, will not be the strategy against Linares - given the different styles of Baroso and Linares. I'd think the plan would be to start breaking down Linares a bit sooner, not allowing him to get into a smooth rhythm. There's a chance it could involve that.

Or are we so literal minded that we assume one game plan will be every game plan? That all we be identical?

Jamie McDonnell is another fighter who starts slowly and finishes with great authority - without even carrying as much power as Crolla, this approach has enabled him to grind out narrow decisions in his home town of Doncaster and on Al Haymon shows in America, against UK, US, Mexican and Japanese opponents of varying styles. It's an efficient and effective approach to combat. And he isn't trained by Joe Gallagher.

Almost every thread finds a way to attack Crolla, Hearn or Gallagher, interestingly. People can even moan about a matchup as good and worthy as Crolla v Linares, and find something to be miserable or cynical about. A matchup as positive as on September 24 can actually be criticised as a way to duck Flanagan. And Joe Gallagher gets criticised for over thinking things?

Gallagher's game plan is more or less the same every time, he might tweak the finer aspects of it but the basic plan is the same. Come forward with a high guard and try and come on strong as the fight goes on with lots of body shots. Won't be any different against Linares.

Hearn and Gallagher rightly get stick because they're dickheads, talk shit and tell lies. Crolla doesn't particularly get much but the only reason he's fighting Linares is because they don't want to fight Flanagan. No one's saying that it's a bad fight, just that there's a better fight in front of them that they should have taken. Perhaps if you removed your tongue from their arseholes you'd see that.

[Counter-puncher]

Flanagan better fight than Linares? In what sense?

£?

Cos there is no WAY Flanagan is proven to be a better fighter than Linares. Not even close. Who the eff has he beat?

[Andrew]

Flanagan better fight than Linares? In what sense?

£?

Cos there is no WAY Flanagan is proven to be a better fighter than Linares. Not even close. Who the eff has he beat?

You can easily say the same of Linares, Mitchell stands out but that was a razor close fight until the stoppage. Look at his record in detail in recent years that's the only win that looks decent and maybe Arakawa ( his fight with Figueroa was AWESOME if no ones seen it )

Would Oscar Larios 9 years ago at featherweight be his best win ?

IMO Lightweight is a weight with a few guys at a similar level with no one really standing out.

We're at least getting 2 top 5 guys fighting here I would just rather see 2 top 5 lightweights who happen to be from the same city fighting each other.

[Counter-puncher]

Fair points,Demarco is better than any Flanagan win but like you say a long time ago

[Counter-puncher]

But he lost to demarco anyway.

God I am losing it

[Andrew]

Most likely the strategy against Baroso, will not be the strategy against Linares - given the different styles of Baroso and Linares. I'd think the plan would be to start breaking down Linares a bit sooner, not allowing him to get into a smooth rhythm. There's a chance it could involve that.

Or are we so literal minded that we assume one game plan will be every game plan? That all we be identical?

Jamie McDonnell is another fighter who starts slowly and finishes with great authority - without even carrying as much power as Crolla, this approach has enabled him to grind out narrow decisions in his home town of Doncaster and on Al Haymon shows in America, against UK, US, Mexican and Japanese opponents of varying styles. It's an efficient and effective approach to combat. And he isn't trained by Joe Gallagher.

Almost every thread finds a way to attack Crolla, Hearn or Gallagher, interestingly. People can even moan about a matchup as good and worthy as Crolla v Linares, and find something to be miserable or cynical about. A matchup as positive as on September 24 can actually be criticised as a way to duck Flanagan. And Joe Gallagher gets criticised for over thinking things?

I get the point in fighters warming into a fight but Jamie McDonnell doesn't purposefully give rounds away though by hardly throwing punches at all. To be honest these tactics haven't been detrimental to Crolla it worked perfectly against Barroso. The fighter it has been detrimental to is Scott Quigg but that will have been discussed enough on here.

[crusader]

Crolla didn't start slow in either Perez fight, although the late stoppage on Linares's record may be taken as a sign that he's vulnerable to the stereotypical Gallagher approach. Linares does have early losses as well, but I don't see Crolla as someone who would try to blast him out early.

[Counter-puncher]

Linares has tracing-paper skin, if crolla is smart he'll try to show hes vulnerable against a korean-style headbutting attack, I reckon Linares cuts if you give him a nasty look

[wesshaw1985]

Flanagan better fight than Linares? In what sense?

£?

Cos there is no WAY Flanagan is proven to be a better fighter than Linares. Not even close. Who the eff has he beat?

£'s is the first point.
I would also argue a run of Ormond, Zepeda, Magdaleno and Matthews is equal if not a better resume than a run of Terry, Prieto, Mitchell and Cano.

The fact Crolla is taking a tv date for less money than a PPV date for more money speaks volumes.
Again, if Crolla really wanted it he would have demanded it.