By Minnie Larry
Three division champion Jorge” Golden Boy” Linares (42-3, 27KOs) won a unanimous decision over Anthony “Million Dollar” Crolla (31-6-3, 13KOs), retaining the WBA lightweight championship in a rematch on Saturday night at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.
Linares started off strong behind a stiff left jab and follow the jab with very solid punches to the side of Crolla’s face and body. In the early rounds, “Golden Boy” would land several uppercuts which seemed to stun Crolla. In the 7th round, Linares landed a sharp left uppercut that sent “Million Dollar” straight to the cavass. Crolla would answer the count and survive the round. In Round 8, a fiery Crolla would chase Linares around the ring, landing stiff shots to the head and body. Linares would overcome Crolla’s attempted comeback with movement and a sharp one/two combination. Both combatants would make it to the end of Round 12. The judges ruled Linares the winner with scores of 118-109 3x.
Post-fight:
The winner of Linares/Crolla is slated for a mandatory bout with Mikey Garcia (36-0, 30KOs). Linares stated “I would love to fight Mikey Garcia and Lomachenko.”
Undercard:
Jack Arnfield (24-2, 6KOs) won by unanimous decision over Brian Rose (29-4-1, 8KOs) in a Lightweight contest.
Martin Joseph Ward (17-0-2, 8KOs) defeated Maxi Hughes (16-3-2, 2KOs) for the WBA International Middleweight title.
Marcus Morrison (14-1, 10KOs) won by unanimous decision over Jason Welborn (21-6, 7KOs) for the WBC International Super Featherweight title.
Katie Taylor (4-0, 2KOs) in a Lightweight contest defeated Milean Koleva (9-7-1, 3KOs).
Tomi Tatham (11-2, 5KOS) defeated Karel Horejsek (8-7-2, 7KOs) by TKO in a Cruiserweight bout.
Hosea Burton (19-1, 9KOs) defeated Tamas Kozma (5-3-2, 2KOs) in a Light Heavyweight contest.
Ben Sheedy (6-0, 2KOs) defeated Rob Brown (2-5, 1KOs) in a Middleweight bout.
