Monday 19 September 2016 10:52, UK
For once, Anthony Crolla is a betting favourite but in Jorge Linares, he faces a three-weight world champion used to silencing British fans.
You can catch all the action live on Sky Sports as Crolla defends his WBA world lightweight crown in front of his adoring home fans at the Manchester Arena. The coveted Ring magazine title is also on the line, meaning it will be widely accepted that Saturday's winner is the world's best at 135lbs.
The venue has become a fortress for 'Million Dollar', who completed a remarkable rise from relative obscurity by stopping Darleys Perez in a rematch back in November 2015. Less than a year earlier, Crolla had been laid up in hospital with career-threatening injuries from a burglar attack.
With the belt secured on a memorable night, Crolla went one better in May - defying the odds for the umpteenth time in weathering an early storm from maiden challenger Ismael Barroso and then producing a clinical seventh-round stoppage.
In Linares, Crolla takes on arguably his classiest opposition to date. The Japan-based Venezuelan has held the WBC world featherweight title, the WBA world super-featherweight title and the WBC world lightweight title over the course of a sensational career that has seen him build up a record of 40-3-KO27.
The man known as 'El Nino de Oro', which translates as 'Golden Boy', was last seen on British shores in May 2015 when he faced Kevin Mitchell in defence of the WBC lightweight crown.
In a Fight of the Year contender, Linares showed true champion spirit to clamber up from a fifth-round knockdown and went on to silence The O2 with a 10th round victory.
Can Crolla produce another career best to retain his title and set-up unification bouts? Or will Linares account for another of Britain's most popular boxers?
Fight week is here, so there's not long until we find out...
Watch Crolla v Linares, Conor Benn, John Ryder v Jack Arnfield, Callum Johnson v Willbeforce Shihepo and Hosea Burton v Fernando Castaneda live on Sky Sports 2 from 7.30pm this Saturday.
