Crolla: supporters mean everything

Anthony Crolla is confident the support of Manchester can carry him to victory over Jorge Linares on Saturday night.

Crolla's supporters packed into the Radisson hotel in the city centre on Friday lunchtime to see him weigh in at 9st 8lbs 7oz, well within the lightweight limit and exactly the same weight as his Venezuelan opponent.Crolla will be trying to win back the WBA belt taken from him by Linares last September in a fight also at Manchester Arena.

The 30-year-old told Sky Sports News: "Every time it (the support) grows and it grows, and that's just people who come out to see me step on the scales in my boxer shorts.

"It means the world and these (supporters) are one of the motivations that gets me out of bed in the morning and to work as hard as what I do. It's going to make me bite down on that gumshield even harder tomorrow to make sure those belts stay in Manchester."

Crolla is again considered the underdog, with Linares winning by a unanimous decision last time out, but the local fighter is confident of his chances.

He said: "I feel brilliant, I feel in a great place, not just physically but mentally. There will be no excuses tomorrow night no matter what but I'm very confident that I'll win.

"The hard work's been done. It's just a matter of resting up and getting our mind on the job. To win the belts back against a class fighter like Jorge Linares would be the absolute pinnacle."

Crolla's first fight against Linares was the second defence of the belt he claimed in November 2015 with victory over Darleys Perez.

That triumph came less than a year on from him suffering a fractured skull when he was attacked while confronting burglars.