After a solid win over Ricky Burns in 2017 and another win earlier this year, Anthony Crolla
During a live Q&A session with fans on his Instagram account, Hearn revealed that Crolla is recovering from a minor ankle injury and that he will be out for a few months. Hearn initially said Crolla would be out until December, but after seeing a Twitter post about it, he later corrected himself, saying that Crolla should be back sometime in October or November.
Crolla has not fought since scoring a unanimous decision win over Edson Ramirez on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs. Joseph Parker in Cardiff, Wales back on March 31. It was Crolla's second straight win after losing two consecutive WBA lightweight title fights to Jorge Linares by unanimous decision. Crolla first won the WBA title in his second attempt when he knocked out Darleyz Perez after their first fight ended in a majority draw. Since those two losses to Linares, Crolla defeated Burns by unanimous decision in a spirited fight last October.
Although Crolla is likely not sniffing at a lightweight world title fight in 2018, he is still highly ranked in three of the four major governing bodies. Crolla is ranked No. 6 by the WBC, No. 4 by the WBA and No. 10 by the IBF in all three governing bodies' 135-pound official rankings.
