Anthony Crolla must “keep his emotions in check” when he makes a final ring walk in his hometown of Manchester on Saturday night for the 45th and last professional fight of his career.
Crolla admitted to Telegraph Sport that the key will be staying cool against final opponent Frank Urquiaga when the emotions flood through him.
“I know they will come, it’s inevitable, but they have to be put to one side, like I’ve done for every fight,” said Crolla, who won a world title at lightweight and stepped in against Vasyl Lomachenko in Los Angeles this year.
Bizarrely, as with many tapestries within boxing, Crolla shot to fame tackling burglars at a neighbour’s home, suffering a broken ankle and fractured skull while in training for a world title shot in 2014. The Mancunian had forgotten all about his ambitions as he raced after two burglars. But it typifies his character that he came back from that episode and later in 2015, claimed the world crown.
Crolla explained: “Saturday night is so important to me, it means absolutely everything for me to go out there and finish my career in style. I have a lot of respect for Frank and I think our styles are going to gel for a great fight. Everyone keeps asking me about emotions and I keep saying the same thing, I am just trying to not think of this as my last fight because otherwise you start fighting with emotions.
“Boxing is a sport where you can’t do that because it very rarely works out well, so I am just going to treat it like any other fight. I have had a fantastic camp and I can’t wait for Saturday night.
“There are a lot of things that I will miss about boxing, it has been a huge part of my life and it always will be, this is just the last time I will walk to the ring as a fighter.”
Frank Urquiaga, meanwhile, insists he will create an upset. “I am so excited to fight here in Manchester, a city with a lot of boxing fans. For me it is an honour to fight against a warrior like Anthony Crolla and I am ready for the fight. Anthony Crolla is a good boxer with a lot of rhythm and the fight will be a good fight for the fans. I will give this my best and let’s hope it goes right for me on the night.”
Crolla remains all too aware that Urquiaga can feed off being an underdog. “He has got everything to gain and that for me is motivation on it’s own. I want to finish my career on a high and go out in style. I will always have that hunger and that hunger never really leaves you but I feel that you have got to feed it in other ways.”
Joe Gallagher, Crolla’s trainer, knows what the local and national hero has put into his career – the hard yards of sacrifice. “His training camp for this fight has been what it always it, meticulous. He puts 100 per cent into everything and we can’t take our eyes off the ball. Frank is a good fighter, he fought for the European title as the away fighter and lost by two points on two judges scorecards. Frank has an awful lot to gain upsetting the party this week.
“The right time to go out is when you are relevant, you don’t want to be a stepping-stone for the young fighters coming through. Anthony is going out on his own accord and not because boxing has forced him to.
“Anthony is getting out at the right time and from a personal perspective it’s a pleasure to be able to finish Anthony’s career with him. To be able to do this last dance together makes me so proud and I think it would be fitting to have Anthony acknowledged in the Queen’s Honours List at the end of this year.”
Eddie Hearn, the promoter, added: “The career of Anthony Crolla is without doubt one of the great success stories of British boxing and he is genuinely one of the nicest people you will ever meet. He has been an unbelievable ambassador for this city and the sport of boxing. This is a must win fight for him and I know that he wants to finish his career with another victory.”
And the future for Crolla? “I will be coaching the kids, I will be spending more time focusing on that and maybe in time, take a stable of fighters on. Everyone on this table loves boxing in one way or another and boxing has been so good for me. I am so grateful for what boxing has done for me but now the time is right.”