With Anthony Crolla suffering another crushing defeat in a world title bout, the former WBA lightweight titleholder admits that the end of his career is fast approaching.
Right after Lomachenko knocked Crolla out with a devastating right hand in the fourth round of their WBA and WBO 135-pound title bout, Crolla spoke with talkSPORT to reflect on what happened and what is next. As far as the knockout is concerned, Crolla knew he wasn't going to get back up when he got dropped by Lomachenko.
“It was a great shot he caught me with. I knew, the moment he hit me, it was frustrating because I thought, ‘It’s gonna take more than ten seconds to recover from this,'" Crolla said.
With the fight resulting in perhaps the worst possible outcome for Crolla, the British challenger reflected on his career and if there is still a future left for him. The 32-year-old has lost three of his last six fights and said his career is soon coming to an end. Crolla did refuse to retire after losing to Lomachenko, adding that he doesn't want his career to end this way.
“It’s nearly time, it’s very nearly time. I don’t wanna make no decisions here, I don’t wanna go out like that... Got a house out of boxing, made life a little bit easier for my family. It’s hard to take, boxing’s a big part of my life. You can’t stay in boxing too long. I will struggle to let it go, but the end is very near," Crolla concluded.
Crolla earned the opportunity to challenge for Lomachenko's two world titles by winning three straight fights prior to April 12 and became the mandatory challenger. The fight headlined a Top Rank on ESPN+ card from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
