Don't miss the Crolla bill by Martin Williams Jan 15th 2008

This Saturday evening, millions of fight fans will tune in to watch the heavyweight title clash between Bedford brawler Matt Skelton and WBA kingpin Ruslan Chagaev at the Burg-Waechter Castello, Dusseldorf. That may be an exciting fight for some, but for those in interested in potential and progress, style and speed over guts and grappling, Anthony Crolla is the man for you. The amiable Mancunian will fight Polish lightweight Tomasz Kwiecien (1-2) on the undercard, a chance for the former ABA champ - trained by Anthony Farnell - to impress on the big stage. He has won six and looked good in doing so, notably the three-round destruction of Johnny Greaves last October, but Crolla admits to knowing little about his next opponent. All Anthony knows is that he will win. After all, he has no choice. “No disrespect to this guy but I have to beat these kind of fighters,” he says. “If I'm as good as I think I can be then I have to beat him. “I've trained non-stop since December (after retiring Daniel Thorpe in the second round of their meeting) and am in great shape. “I don't know much about him but I know I'll win. He can't have trained as hard as I have for this, there's no way. “I'm not taking him for granted but I'm out to impress. The Skelton fight will be shown on Setanta and I'm the only other Brit on the card, so it would be nice to get some exposure on TV.” With Farnell at the helm, Crolla has little option but to work hard - ‘Arnie' was a tough cookie and he still is. The former WBU champion has an impressive and growing stable of boxers which also includes Kallum Dea'th, Tony Bellew and Steve Bell, and has a bright future outside the ring. “He's a fantastic trainer, he works us hard but the atmosphere in the gym is terrific,” says Crolla, whose boxing career is proving to be more successful than his short-lived stint on ITV's X-Factor! “At the moment I'm still in the gym but am just winding-it down and doing some light work before flying out to Germany. “I've worked hard to get to this point, I was training all over Christmas but it doesn't bother me, I'm totally dedicated to the sport. “A lot of that is down to Arnie. He's a brilliant guy, a fantastic pad-man and no disrespect to any other trainers but he's been there and done it himself. If you're having a bad day in the gym he is able to connect with you because he's had those bad days as well. “He's brilliant, and working with the other lads in the gym is great. Bellew, Dea'th, Bellos - they're all top lads.” Crolla may enjoy his time in the gym and the camaraderie that comes with it, but when it comes to forging a career he's all business. “Absolutely, I'm very serious about my career, I want it all,” he says. “I don't see the point of getting into this if you're not going to aim for the very top. I want a world title and a Lonsdale belt along the way. I want to do things right. “I've wanted one of those belts since I saw (Chris) Finnegan with one many years ago. That's the right way to go about it in my opinion.” Some may wonder how this 20-year-old knows about, or even remembers Chris Finnegan, the great Buckinghamshire boxer of the 1960s. Well, his own dad Wayne was a fighter and introduced young Anthony to the sport from an early age. Since then he's picked-up a great knowledge of pugilism and admires many of its greatest exponents. “I'm very lucky because my dad used to take me to the gym all the time,” he says. “So when I started to box myself, when I was about 11, I already knew so much about it. “He would show me so many fighters. Coming from Manchester it was brilliant, there was Michael Brodie, Mickey Gomez, and later of course, there's Ricky. “But my own hero is Winky Wright, along with Alexis Arguello and Salvador Sanchez. What a tragedy that he (Sanchez) passed away, he was a great. “I also admire Mayweather and met him when he was in Manchester recently. He's a brilliant boxer. “I want to be remembered as a great boxer as well, and it all starts on Saturday with my next fight. I'll be keeping busy over the coming months and we'll see how it goes.”

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