Anthony Crolla vs Darleys Perez Preview July 18th
There’s another world title fight over in Manchester, England this weekend as hometown hero Anthony Crolla be facing Darleys Perez of Colombia for the Perez’s WBA Lightweight title. This is a monumental fight for Crolla as it was feared his career was over last December following an attack near his home. Crolla suffered serious head injuries in the incident after being struck with a concrete block, but has now recovered and says he’s in the best shape of his life. This 12-round bout can be seen live in the UK from the Manchester Arena on Sky Sports on Saturday, July 18th.
The 28-year-old Crolla will enter the ring with a record of 29-4-2 along with 11 Kos while the 31-year-old Perez is 32-1 and has 20 Kos under his belt. Crolla was scheduled to fight former champion Richar Abril, but missed out on that opportunity due to the fractured skull and broken ankle he suffered in the attack. Crolla hear a commotion in his neighbour’s yard and decided to intervene when it looked like the neighbour was about to be robbed. There’s no question he’s going to be motivated enough in this contest, but he’s facing a pretty good boxer in Perez.
Perez is riding a four-bout winning streak after suffering his lone career loss to Yuriokis Gamboa of Cuba back in June of 2013 by way of unanimous decision. The WBA handed Perez the lightweight title after Abril was stripped of it for failing to defend it. At the time, Perez was the interim champion. Crolla has a slight height advantage here as he stands just over 5-feet-8-inches tall while Perez is 5-foot-7. However, Perez has the reach advantage at 70 inches to 67. He also has an advantage when it comes to power.
Crolla turned pro back in 2006 and has gone 2013 rounds since then with a knockout ratio of just 31 per cent. Perez has 175 rounds on his resume since turning pro in 2009 and has a Ko ratio of 61 per cent. Perez has faced some decent opponents during his career such as Gamboa, Jose Reyes, and Oscar Meza. However, he’s also fought quite a few journeymen as well. Still, he packs some power and so far has displayed a pretty solid chin.
On the other hand, Crolla has four losses on his record against domestic opponents. He drew with Derry Mathews and was beaten by Youssef Al Hamidi and twice by Gary Sykes. In addition, Mathews stopped him in the sixth round back in 2012. However, he’s also fought some decent British opponents such as Andy Morris, John Watson, Willie Limond, Gavin Rees and John Murray. Perez should represent Crolla’s toughest opponent to date, but he may have bitten off more than he can chew, especially coming off of his serious injuries.
Crolla needs to use his mobility and slick combinations against Perez since he doesn’t really have the power to slug it out with him. He’ll definitely have the crowd behind him and that may help him as well somewhat.
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Prediction
This could very well turn out to be a case of “mind over matter” if Crolla manages to win this fight. He’s facing an opponent in Perez who appears to have a bit of an overblown record against mostly fellow Colombian opponents. But Perez was good enough to go 12 rounds with Gamboa. However, the same could be said of Crolla, as he’s built up his record against domestic opponents and has also been beaten four times. This is a close one to call and no outcome will really be a surprise. If it goes the distance then look for Crolla to get the nod. If it’s stopped, then Perez remains the champ. Let’s go with Crolla by decision.
Odds
Sportsbook 5dimes.eu has the latest odds on all of the big fights. The odds of a Perez victory are currently listed at -175 while a Crolla win is listed at +155. Visit 5Dimes.eu to see up to date odds and to bet on this fight. You should also check out our recent boxing betting predictions to see how we’ve done.
Anthony Crolla betting • Darleys Perez betting