In The Battle of Manchester, Anthony Crolla eventually proved to be too much for lightweight rival John Murray. The two men gave their all in a terrific fight that met, even surpassed expectations, but in the end the younger, fresher man pulled out the victory. Dropping Murray with a left hand that landed behind the ear, Crolla then finished his man with a brutal follow-up barrage that prompted the ref to dive in. The time was two-minutes and 20-seconds of the 10th. Murray, who finished the war with a badly swollen and bloodied right eye, is now 33-3(20). Crolla, the younger many by two years at age 27, improved to 28-4-1(11).
From the outset Murray came out hard and fast as expected and Crolla had to dig deep so as not to be overwhelmed. The pace was a hot one straight away and Murray’s vicious and relentless body work was proving effective. Crolla countered well, though, and he landed the cleaner work upstairs. Crolla did look like he was perhaps tiring by the 4th and 5th-round but Murray’s right eye was swelling noticeably.
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