By Terence Dooley
Boxing can be a cruel sport at times, it lives on the knife-edge, great personal triumph can come at the expense of physical pain, witness Cotto finding redemption at the weekend whilst taking a beating at the hands of Pacquiao; also, the game often throws up fights that are bittersweet - double-edge swords for the fans to struggle with. One such fight takes place at the Robin Park Centre, Wigan on the 27th of this month when Manchester boxing legend Michael Brodie - a former British, European and WBF champion - squares off against local rival Anthony Crolla.
Brodie, 35, has done it all, his heart-on-sleeve approach won him a legion of fans; his domestic and European triumphs then raised the expectations of those fans, only for the fighter to be denied in his four world title attempts – against Willie Jorrin, In-Jin Chi, twice, and Scott Harrison. Consequently, news of Brodie’s comeback was greeted with cries of, ‘It is good to have him back…but I hope it doesn’t end badly for him’.
Crolla, 23-years-old, is a Brodie fan, he wished Mike well when Brodie, 36-3-1 (24 KO’s), made his return to the ring in August of this year but must now try to nip this comeback in its bud. No one wants to be the man who puts Lassie down yet Crolla, 14-2 (5 early), must do the fistic equivalent of this if he is to continue on his own boxing path.
Consequently, the fight is fascinatingly poised. Youth versus experience; size versus speed; the young up-and-comer versus local favourite; it is a fight in which the winner may well feel like the loser. However, Crolla has not been able to think about this, the fighter paid his respects when the contest was announced, and then set about plotting Brodie’s final downfall. Boxingscene watched Anthony, an ABA winner as an amateur, do some brisk sparring with Amir Unsworth; he then sat down and told us about his preparations.
“Sparring has been great,” enthused Crolla. “We’ve brought some good lads in and the work me and Joe has done has ticked all the boxes for the Brodie fight. I’m enjoying sparring at the minute and have to take that into the ring. A lot of the hard work has been done - I can’t wait to get into the fight.”
This is Crolla’s second fight under the stewardship of Joe Gallagher and Kerry Kayes. The Denton-based team have worked hard to bring Crolla back from his heart-breaking British title eliminator defeat to Gary Sykes back in May. There has been plenty of gym time but only one fight, a points win over John Baguley on the undercard of Brodie’s fourth-round comeback win over Mark Alexander, so was it wise to take the Brodie fight this early into a new training set-up?
“No, me and Joe gel together well”, answered Crolla, “the work with Kerry is definitely helping me as well. I worked with Joe as an amateur as well so it is a case of picking up where we left off. It feels like I’ve been here longer than two fights.
“In this short space of time I can already feel the difference Kerry has made. People talk about weights bulking you up and making you slower but my weight has come down quickly and I don’t feel like I’ve lost any speed. The weight came off easier for this one and once it is over I’ll move down to featherweight. I’ve been on the weight for a few weeks and am really enjoying things.”
Local interest has been stoked; the intermeshed fabric of the fighters’ lives means that the majority of fans will be pulled one way and the other come fight night. Crolla told me that people have been asking him about the tussle from the moment it was inked. “Random people are coming up to me and talking about what a great fight I’ve got coming up,” revealed Crolla.
“A lot people are talking about it. Me and Mike know the same crowd. His mates are mates with my mates. It is two local fighters having a derby. There will be a great atmosphere and it will reflect when we’re fighting.”
There was a pre-fight storm, however, when trainer Gallagher quibbled over the amount of scheduled rounds. Joe hoped that the promoters would pick up one of the seemingly endless belts swashing around every level of boxing in order to make the contest a ten-round title fight. Instead, Crolla was offered a six-rounds non-title fight. A compromise was reached, it will be contested over eight-rounds. “It is over eight rounds and that is fair – you couldn’t have had it over six because it deserves a few rounds,” stated Crolla.
“I’ve trained for a hard eight-rounds. Whatever Mike brings, I’ve prepared for. I’ve got nothing but respect for Michael Brodie. I used to go and watch him all the time as a kid and had all his fights. It is a privilege to fight Mike - Brodie is a fighter everyone knows about. I’ve been given the fight and have been watching all his fights again, from Neil Swain onward. I know what he is capable off. On his night he is a genuine world champion and was robbed of that WBC title in the Jorrin fight, so I know what to expect from Michael Brodie.”
Still, there will be no love lost once the first bell rings. “Once we are in there it is strictly business”, continued Crolla, “all the respect goes to one side when you are in there but I’ll never lose my personal respect for Michael and it will still be there after the fight.
“I’ll have been with a big world-class guy and the name will be great on my record. The Hatton’s have delivered me a great fight. I’ve not thought about losing, we all know it could happen but it has never entered my head and I won’t let it cross my mind. I’m confident that I will win this fight. It is a genuine pick ‘em fight.”
Crolla has had to look to himself and ask a number of questions: can he cope with Brodie’s experience? Will he be able to adopt an assassin’s mentality on the night? Anthony told me that he had looked within himself when he was offered the fight; he knows it is going to be tough but he is convinced that his time is about to come.
He said: “A lot of things make this a tough fight. You can never count Mike out: he’s got a massive heart, will to win and skill – I have to match all that on the night. I have to be with him every second of every round.”
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