Who is Anthony Crolla? All you need to know about the former world champ who recovered from brutal burglary attack in 2014
British fighter lost his rematch with Jorge Linares, but find out more about the man behind the gloves who wants to keep on fighting
ANTHONY CROLLA is back in the news of late, after he took on Jorge Linares for the second time in March.
The Brit boxer sadly lost Linares vs Crolla II in a gruelling battle in Manchester, after the Venezuelan won their first fight back in September 2016.
Despite the fight, he has a fascinating and inspiring story - so why not find out more about Crolla below...
Who is Anthony Crolla?
Crolla is a professional British lightweight boxer, born in Manchester.
The fighter known as 'Million Dollar', has won 31 of his 39 professional fights, including 13 KOs to go with just five losses.
The Manchester boxer has also fought at the super-featherweight level.
What has Anthony Crolla won?
To go with his 31 fight wins, Crolla has also won the British lightweight title.
After stepping up from super-featherweight in 2011, Crolla won a contender for fight of the year to take the vacant title.
He knocked out John Watson in the ninth round to take the belt, before saying: "I knew I'd be strong enough at lightweight, but I didn't know I'd be that strong.
"I'm in with strong kids in the gym all the time and they say my strength is underrated. But even I couldn't believe how strong I was."
However, Crolla lost his title to Derry Matthews a year later via a sixth-round stoppage.
Crolla lost to Linares after he outclassed him in his bid to regain the WBA lightweight title, the Venezuelan producing a superb display at Manchester Arena.
What happened during Anthony Crolla's infamous attack?
It is simply amazing to see Crolla back in the ring after he suffered horrific injuries during a botched burglary.
Back in December 2014, Crolla was scheduled to fight for the WBA world lightweight title against Richar Abril of Cuba in January 2015.
However, the fight was called off when the Manchester-born fighter broke his ankle and fractured his skull as his house was burgled.
During the raid, Crolla confronted the two men, even catching one of them... but he was brutally attacked with a lump of conrete.
On the horrendous incident, Crolla’s trainer Joe Gallagher said: “He’s seen people climbing over a fence from next door and he’s given chase.
"He’s managed to get hold of one of the two but the other has picked up a brick or a concrete slab and attacked him. He could have been killed.”