San Diego, CA – November, 25, 2015 -This past Saturday, Anthony Crolla realized a lifetime dream as he became the WBA Lightweight champion with a stunning body shot 5th round knockout over defending champion Darleys Perez.
Just before that, Arthur Abraham defended the WBO Super Middleweight title with a split decision over Martin Murray.
Crolla – Perez, which took place in Manchester, England and Abraham – Murray, which originated from Hanover, Germany highlighted a split site championship doubleheader on AWE- A Wealth of Entertainment.
The two continued a string of high quality world title bouts broadcasted on AWE.
“This was a great kickoff to a great day of boxing,”said AWE president, Charles Herring.
“To show two high-quality world title bouts from two different countries fits into what we want to give the fans and that is the best boxing throughout the world.”
Crolla landed the perfect paralyzing shot that ended the fight and sent the Manchester Arena into a frenzy.
“This is what I have dreamt about since I was a kid,” said Crolla. “To achieve it, well, it is going to take a long time to sink in – I’m absolutely made up. I couldn’t have picked a better setting to have achieved my dream, all my family and friends were in the arena and the fans were incredible.
“The people who have been with me from day one were all there and I am so happy to have done it for them too. It’s a tough time of the year for people to dip into their pockets and pay for tickets so I am grateful to them and I hope they had a great night.
“It’s just under a year since the attack and all that has been well-documented, I promised myself when I was laying on that hospital bed that I would come back stronger than ever and that’s what I have done.
“I knew after a few rounds that he was feeling the pace and he made a few noises when I hit him with some shots, he was sharp though and he was hitting harder than he did last time, I took a few stupid shots early on but I thought I would get to him and it paid off. I felt confident before the fight that I could get him out of there.
“That’s the best body shot I’ve thrown in my career. I was touching him up top and I knew as soon as he went down that he was going to struggle to bet the count. He was sat down for a few minutes after the decision so it caught him perfectly, I’ll look forward to watching it back again and again.
“I am capable of more than that – it was a good finish but it wasn’t a great performance.”
Murray seemed to be more active fighter and landed some big shots throughout the fight. In round eleven, Murray was deducted a point for holding which seemed like it could have been a deciding factor in the close battle but it did not come into play as Abraham won the debated decision by tallies of 116-111, 115-112 while Murray took a card 115-112.
“Obviously I’m gutted,” said Murray. “I really thought it was my night and when the final bell went – even though we were in Germany – I still thought I had it. I still thought I had done enough. When they said it was a split decision even then I still thought I’d got it.
“I know I’m too good to retire but the way I am feeling now, what can I do? It was my fifth shot. I just can’t keep doing this. I just can’t keep doing it to my family.”
