By Terence Dooley

Salford boxing legend Jamie Moore will be torn when he sits down in the Sky TV studio tomorrow night to pour over the Prizefighter: The Lightweights line up.  Derry Mathews, Anthony Crolla, Gary Sykes, Jamie Spence, Tommy Coyle, Stephen Jennings, Terry Flannigan and Liam Patrick Walsh are all vying for Matchroom’s £32,000 cash prize Liverpool’s Olympia venue in what promises to be a bonanza of boxing action.

Although “Mooresy” will be “treading the line of neutrality”, to mangle a quote by arch-mangler Don King, the former British, Irish, European and Commonwealth light-middleweight world champion has a soft spot for the styles of two of the competitors.

“I said a couple of years ago that Anthony Crolla, a good mate of mine, has a great style,” said Moore when speaking to BoxingScene.  “Unfortunately he lost to Derry (Mathews) in a great British title fight, but I love Anthony’s fights. 

“Terry Flannigan, the first time I saw him I thought, ‘He is mint’ — he’s really good and can really go on in the future.  If he continues learning as he has done in the last 18-months then he will be phenomenal.”

Crolla, 23-3 (9), opens his Prizefighter ledger against Stephen Jennings, 5-1-1 (2), and will no doubt have an eye on Gary Sykes, 20-2 (5), and Liverpool’s amazingly popular comeback king Derry Mathews, 30-7-1 (16), who take on Tommy Coyle, 13-0 (4), and Jamie Spence, 10-3 (2), respectively in their opening bouts.

Flannigan, 15-0 (4), successfully defended his English super featherweight title by out-pointing Troy James in a 10-round thriller at Manchester’s Bowler’s Arena two-weeks ago.  The undefeated southpaw meets Liam Patrick Walsh 10-1 (3) in his opening bout, which could turn out to be fight of the night — and if that’s the case then Moore will have plenty to dissect after the first wave of bouts.

Sky Sports 1 and HD1 televise from 8.30pm here in the U.K.

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Tags: Anthony Crolla