Darleys Perez: Profile of Anthony Crolla's world title opponent
Oppsite Corner: Darleys Perez
Wednesday 15 July 2015 12:43, UK
Darleys Perez stands between Anthony Crolla and a dream world-title win, so we take a closer look at the Colombian.
So to start with, where does he come from?
He is Colombian. He was born on September 14, 1983 in San Pandro de Uraba, a small city in the north west of the country, close to Panama. Hardly known for producing world champions when compared to Manchester...
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Do Colombia produce world championship boxers?
There's not exactly a conveyor belt but like most South American countries, there have been a few. Miguel 'Happy' Lora had the nation smiling in the 1980s when he was the WBC bantamweight champion, defending it eight times, including against Wilfredo Vazquez.
In the 70s and 80s, Antonio Cervantes was the WBA flyweight holder before losing it to the unbeaten Aaron Pryor and in 1991, Elvis Álvarez won the WBA flyweight title only to lose his first defence. Alvarez sadly was shot dead in Medellin four years later. Also, the late and great Diego Corrales had a Colombian father.
Who is the best-known, bona fide Colombian we've heard of?
Leaving the best to last, Carlos Maussa was born in Monteria and of course took on Ricky Hatton back in 2005 in The Hitman's first fight since beating Kostya Tszyu. People forget that Maussa was the WBA light-welterweight champion having taken it off Vivian Harris, one of the 140lbs gatekeepers at the time. Hatton was at his best and while Maussa cut him twice and was awkward and game, a peach of a left ended it in the ninth.
Excellent, does that mean we are going to get another magnificent Manchester night like that?
There aren't many places in the world that can boast three current world champions. It's also 10 years on from my fight with Kostya Tszyu so it all fits in quite nicely!
Well, with Scott Quigg also on, let's hope it is the latest magical Mancunian affair. Except, the Hatton-Maussa fight actually took place in Sheffield.
Oh, well at least the nations are the same. So tell us what Perez has done so far...
Darleys turned pro on Valentine's Day in 2009 at the age of 25. He's boxed 33 times, losing only once and knocking 20 of his victims out.
Turning pro at the age of 25 suggests he had a decent amateur record. Anything stand out?
Well he won the gold in the South American Games in 2006 but fell short in the PanAm Games the following year and despite beating fancied Olexandr Klyuchko, he didn't pick up a medal. It was enough though to win a spot in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and while we were celebrating James DeGale's gold, Perez didn't get near a medal.
Not the best amateur pedigree then... so what has he done to get this far in the pro game?
He has worked his way up the lightweight rankings and has held the WBA interim lightweight title for four fights. In fact, his first attempt was against Yuri Gamboa and although he pushed him all the way, the Cuban won and went on to tackle Terence Crawford in one of the best fights of 2014.
Those interim titles are supposed to earn you a crack at the proper world title, so what happened to Perez?
Well if we tell you Richar Abril was the WBA champion, you will kind of get the picture already. Due to his illness and injury, this is the first WBA world title fight for 18 months. Derry Mathews has suffered more than anyone, but at least became the latest WBA interim champion in April when he was supposed to fight Abril.
And of course, we won't forget Crolla was due to do the same in January before those burglars not only threatened his career but his life as well.
Right... well it's here at last, so what can we expect from him?
We know he can bang a bit but he has gone the distance six out of the last seven times, so he is up for a scrap too. Maybe the power has levelled off now he has stepped up the ladder. Perez is busy. He looks to have a sharp jab and he is more than willing to leap in behind it. But the right seems to carry all the danger, overhead and the short, sharp hook.
What has his best performance been then?
We haven't seen much of Perez but to take Gamboa the distance is no small achievement. Yes, Gamboa's amateur pedigree had us expecting big things and he was criticised but Perez wouldn't let him settle and kept coming. His last fight saw him out-class Jonathan Maicelo, winning on a landslide but also flooring him in the 11th.
What are the bookies saying?
Well SkyBet have got the visitor as the favourite at 8/15 with Crolla 6/4 for the outright win. And with both good at going the distance the draw is 20/1
Not to be confused with...
Mike Perez the Irish-based Cuban heavyweight, Sergio Perez the Force India F1 driver or Armando Christian Pérez, the rapper called Pitbull - who floored a fan who jumped on stage with a hard right a few years ago!
