Watson vs Crolla For British Belt? Gavin Rees Withdraws
Gavin Rees out, Watson and Crolla for British belt?
By Terence Dooley
Matchroom have revealed that former WBA light-welterweight title-holder Gavin Rees has been forced to pull out of his February 16 British lightweight title defence against John Watson due to a nose injury, Anthony Crolla will now take on Watson with the British belt at stake pending confirmation of the contest by the BBBoC. Matchroom have submitted a bid to make the Watson-Crolla fight and hope that this contest will be confirmed by the board early next week, Rees will vacate as he seeks to return to full fighting fitness.
Rees won the WBA’s version of the 140lb world title by out-pointing Souleymane M'baye in 2007. However, ‘The Rock’ lost his title to Andriy Kotelnik in March of the following year. Rees was brave but brutally out-boxed and then out-gunned in that one, he was stopped at 2:34 of the twelfth and final round. Gavin took some time off before bursting back onto the scene by winning Prizefighter: The Light-welterweights in December 2009. Gavin, though, had stated that his long-term future lay down at lightweight, he captured the British title vacated by EBU boss John Murray by stopping Watson, then-undefeated, in the eleventh round of last year’s domestic FOTY candidate.
A Rees-Watson rematch was on the cards for February 12th. Watson, 13-1 (5 stoppages), now headlines the Matchroom bill, which takes place at the Olympia, Liverpool, in a North West derby showdown against 'Million Dollar' Crolla.
Although a super-feather, Crolla, 19-2 (7 early), has been chomping at the bit for a British title shot and is happy to make the move to 135lb as the main domestic belt is on the line. Ironically, the 24-year-old will be vying for a title previously held by his stablemate John Murray. Anthony, the current English super-featherweight titlist, was due to defend his belt against Carl Johanneson on February 26th but is happy to forgo that one to fight for the most prestigious prize in British boxing, that handsome Lonsdale belt.
Watson arguably learned more from the Rees fight than all his other fights combined, the Dave Coldwell-trained fighter dished out a lot of damage himself that night; the 27-year-old was not found wanting and will be twice the fighter this time around.
Ticket information for the Watson-Crolla clash can be obtained by dropping a line to info@matchroom.com or by phoning the Matchroom office on +44 1277 359900.
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