Crolla vs Linares: Talking points from Manchester as Anthony Crolla falls short
Sunday 25 September 2016 15:29, UK
Jorge Linares outclassed and dethroned Anthony Crolla on a thrilling night in Manchester, so what did we learn?
The Boy is Golden
Jorge Linares turned in a performance worthy of an elite pound-for-pound fighter in outpointing Anthony Crolla for the WBA world lightweight title. Any lingering suggestions 'El Nino de Oro' was going to allow his career to fade in the aftermath of a hand injury were cast away as he put on a sensational show of hand speed.
The Venezuelan has always been gifted with the ability to produce flashy combinations and show-stopping power, but perhaps what was most impressive about the victory that hushed the Manchester Arena was proof of his physicality. Many expected Crolla's superb conditioning to allow him to expose Linares late in the bout but the visitor benefited from a second wind after the halfway mark and finished well on top. His clear superiority - punctuated by a huge overhand right that wobbled Crolla in the sixth - was not reflected in the scorecards.
Don't go to waist
The issue of 'low' blows briefly threatened to shroud a truly spectacular fight in controversy. Crolla, wearing his shorts high enough for his waistband to completely obscure his belly button, behaved uncharacteristically in consistently complaining to referee Terry O'Connor about the shots Linares was aiming at his belt line. Vicious they were, low they probably weren't.
Sky Sports pundit Paulie Malignaggi made clear his concerns at ringside after Linares was warned on two separate occasions for straying south. The fast-talking New Yorker said: "Crolla can't referee his own fight. The belt is on the belly button. The referee didn't see where that shot landed. He's taking Anthony Crolla's word for it. UK boxing is at such a great stage but if foreign fighters see 'home-cooking' is going on, you'll never attract the fighters like the US do." Referees and judges have difficult jobs (especially in such a heated and one-sided environment), but it's food for thought.
No accounting for taste
If Linares was slightly short-changed by the judges with the distance of his victory, John Ryder might feel even more aggrieved at being on the wrong end of a unanimous decision against Jack Arnfield. The Islington middleweight was surrendering several inches in height and found himself tagged by the Blackpool man's lengthy jab several times early on in the fight but appeared to wrest control.
It was a classic case of judges favouring one style over another. Arnfield used his physical advantages well in the opening rounds but Ryder adapted quickly and appeared to be edging the contest with a higher work-rate and some clever southpaw counters. At some stages, Ryder neatly evaded Arnfield's range-finders before scoring his own jab on the counter and my eyebrows can't have been the only ones raised when the name of the winner was read out.
The late bloomer
Callum Johnson is enjoying his first major title having stopped Willbeforce Shihepo for the vacant Commonwealth light-heavyweight title. The Namibian visitor started fast, threw clusters of punches and when he needed to catch his breath, clung on to Johnson to deny him the space to retaliate. It was a frustrating first few rounds for the man from Boston, Lincolnshire.
By his own admission, 'The One' did himself few favours by going for the home run whenever he was afforded space to throw hooks but when the finish did come, it was a beauty. The ninth-round overhand right that sent Shihepo collapsing backwards was supplemented by another on the way down. There was concern afterwards as the visitor stayed down and required oxygen but after he returned to his feet, the 31-year-old Johnson was left to reflect on a colourful new piece of jewellery and look forward to belatedly launching a campaign to reach the top.
A badly-kept secret
Marcus Morrison is looking like the real deal, so far. Ricky Hatton, who hails from the same Hattersley estate as the youngster, was in the building and could scarcely have dished out a more emphatic performance in his heyday. Trainer Joe Gallagher calls the 23-year-old his 'mini Joshua' and you don't have to spend long watching him to realise why.
Matiouze Royer had been the six-round distance with some middleweights you may have heard of; neither Jamie Cox nor Christopher Rebrasse could halt the Frenchman. Morrison needed less than a round to do so and the victory was teed up by a punishing body shot. Royer was full of lots of posturing afterwards and insistent he had been hard done by, but the reality is he was counted out and had looked immediately uncomfortably with the weight behind Morrison's punches.
Watch Juergen Braehmer v Nathan Cleverly, live on Sky Sports 2 from 8pm on October 1
