Crolla's Column: Risk or Reward?
It will be great to be back at Manchester’s AO Arena this weekend for a busy night of action topped by Jack Catterall against Harlem Eubank – a really intriguing fight.
If I can bring the story back to me – which I like to do obviously – it’s the venue that was so special for me during my career. I’ll never forget the nights where I was top of the bill, winning my world title against Darleys Perez and defending it against Ismael Barroso.
The reason I mention that – along with talking about myself – is that as good as the new Co-op Live arena is, and it is unbelievable, it is great to go back to the older arena and celebrate the fact we have this other world-class venue in my home city.
As for the main event, there is a lot of pressure on Jack who is desperate to get his world title hopes back on track after defeat to Arnold Barboza Jr in February.
As for the unbeaten Eubank, well he’s got nothing to lose really. He stopped Tyrone McKenna in the 10th round in March, but he obviously hasn’t been anywhere near the kind of company that Jack has been keeping in terms of experience.
This fight is about two counter-punchers, but I just think the better defence in these types of fights, wins. I think Jack has a better defence than Harlem.
It’ll probably be nip and tuck early on, but then eventually they’re going to have to start taking chances, which will make it a better fight than many people think. I just think Jack will be that little bit too cute and that’ll be the difference. Jack wins on points, but I’m really looking forward to it.
Moving down the card, and there’s a return for Joe Cordina after his defeat to Anthony Cacace just over a year ago. It’s good to see him back, and at lightweight, as making super-feather looked like it was starting to take its toll.
I always remember Joe being part of that fantastic 2016 GB Olympic team. He was rated by many in the game as the pound-for-pound best of that group which included the likes of Joe Joyce, Galal Yafai, Lawrence Okolie, Josh Buatsi and Pat McCormack, among others.
He is that good. He is world class. I’m glad he’s not retiring as I think he can be a player at lightweight.
I don’t know a great deal about his opponent, Jaret Gonzalez Quiroz, but he has a great record, and Mexicans have obviously thrown up a fair few shocks over here. That said, I’m certainly going for a Joe Cordina win, I’m just not sure whether he stops him or not.
Another fighter coming back from a first loss is Skye Nicolson. She was edged out by Tiara Brown last time out, but I don’t see any issues in her getting back to winning ways against Bolivian Carla
Gonzales.
One thing about Skye is that she’s got lovely skills and with this kind of opponent, she’s a lot smaller than Skye, I expect her to get the stoppage.
I think Aqib Fiaz against Alex Murphy is a really good fight. I though Alex gave a very good account of himself against Khaleel Majid, and he just fell short.
Alex has taken this fight on 12 days notice, so fair play to him. But also, well done to Aqib because it’s not easy for him to have to switch his attention to facing a naturally bigger lad.
He’ll be giving away a bit of natural size. I think this could be a fight of two halves. With the short notice though, I can just see Aqib doing enough to claim a close points decision.
Big Pat Brown is back in action a whole two weeks since his last fight, which didn’t last long! This time, he is in with Lewis Oakford who has mixed in good company, so I think this is a little step up for Pat. I think Pat will set the pace and really push for the stoppage in the second half of the fight.
Pat has an all-action style and at some point, Lewis is going to have to stand there with him and I think that’s where Pat takes over and forces the stoppage.
Finally, I will be in the corner when my younger brother and Freebets.com sponsored fighter William Crolla has his ninth professional contest against Scotland’s Fraser Wilkinson.
It’s a Good fight. Fraser’s got nice southpaw skills and has a good record. Over the eight rounds though, I think while Fraser could have some success, I would expect William to catch up with him at some point and win inside the distance.
All in all, a top night of action, and as I stated earlier, it’s great to have another big night back in Manchester.
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