Anthony Crolla targets biggest win of career

The bout at Manchester Arena will see local boy Crolla trying to win back the WBA world lightweight title he lost to Venezuela's Linares in a unanimous decision defeat at the same venue in September.

Crolla was making the second defence of the belt he claimed at the arena in November 2015 with victory over Darleys Perez, a triumph that came less than a year on from him suffering a fractured skull when he was attacked while confronting burglars.

The 30-year-old (31-5-3, 13 KO wins) has surprised many with the success he has achieved in a career he described on Thursday, at a press conference to preview the Linares rematch, as an "absolute roller coaster".

And he said of producing a victory on Saturday against 31-year-old Linares (41-3, 27 KO wins), who has held world titles at three different weights: "People have said 'you'll never get that night back, of winning the world title', but then it got better when I defended it against Ismael Barroso.

"And winning it back on Saturday night without doubt would be the highlight of my career."

While expressing his confidence he is set to prove plenty of doubters wrong this weekend, Crolla has also stressed he is a "realist" who knows he will have to deliver the best performance he has in him to overcome Linares.

And he is feeling good about the preparation he has done as he looks to make adjustments from his original effort in September.

"Going off past fights, I've always been better going into fights as the underdog," he said.

"But it's a tough fight. I'm a realist – I know on Saturday I'll need to be the very best Anthony Crolla to beat Jorge Linares.

"I've worked so hard and smart over the last 10 to 12 weeks, I've studied the (first) fight and I really believe that if I show the improvements I have in gym then I'll get my belt back."

He added: "I'm just looking forward to it all.

"The harder and smarter you train, the more confident you become - and with that, I can walk to that ring with the best feeling in world, not just getting cheered on by those fans, but also knowing I've done everything asked of me.

"That crowd will be bigger than ever and I'm the lucky one - I get to dance under those lights.

"It might not look like it when it is round eight, nine, 10, however long the fight might go, and you have to dig deep. But I'm the luckiest person in there, to be centre-stage with my opponent.

"And I'm looking across at those belts (Linares holds the Ring magazine lightweight title as well as being WBA champion) and I want them – I want them in my house, I want to take them home to my little boy. It means so much to me."

Linares, whose mutual respect with Crolla was clear at Thursday's media event, feels he will need a career-best performance to win on Saturday – and has emphasised he has put the work in to ensure he can produce it.

"I believe he is going to be much better and hungrier, having trained much harder, and that it is going to be a different Anthony Crolla," Linares said.

"But that is precisely why I trained that much harder, prepared myself that much better and did everything I had to do."