By Ryan Burton
Cody "The Crippler" Crowley (10-0) returns to the ring against Juan Carlos Cano (15-3-2) on Saturday night. The 8 round bout will headline a fight card at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, a two drive from Crowley's hometown of Douro.
"I am really excited. This fight is somewhat close to my hometown. With me training in the States and fighting in the States not too many of hometown people get to see me fight so this is a good opportunity for them," Crowley explained. "We've already sold 17-to-18,000 dollars worth of tickets. People are bussing up, carpooling. We got 3-to-400 people coming up, hotel rooms, so it's not just a fight, it is an event weekend. That makes it more exciting more than anything else."
Cano has a lot more experience than Crowley but the Canadian isn't worried. He said that the plan is to let his opponent know early on that he is the boss and will dictate the way the fight is fought.
"I just need to go in there and take control right away. Let him know that I am the big dog in the ring and the one in charge and he really isn't in there to last the rounds. I need to take the center of the ring and make the fight at my pace," Crowley stated.
Crowley lives and trains in Las Vegas, Nevada where several of the sport's top fighters train. While he may only have 10 professional fights under his belt, he has sparred a who's who list of top welterweights in the sport.
He said that is one reason why he isn't worried at all at what Cano will try to do when they meet in the ring.
"I've boxed Zab Judah, Chris Algieri, Floyd Mayweather. So there is nothing really that he can bring to the table that I haven't already seen," Crowley told BoxingScene.com about his Las Vegas sparring experiences.
"There is definitely a lot of pressure when you get in the ring (against Mayweather with several onlookers) like that. That is another thing I have learned, how to deal with the pressure. How are you going to be able to fight under the bright lights in front of thousands with millions watching on tv if you can't fight in front of 100 people?"
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