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Newly-crowned WBA Lightweight Champion Anthony Crolla has an opponent for his first title defense, as the organization has ordered him to face interim champ Ismael Barroso by April 12th.
The two camps have thirty days to negotiate before the fight heads to a purse bid.
Crolla (30-4-3, 12 KO) seemed to have earned the title last July against Darleys Perez, only to settle for a heartbreaking draw. He left no room for judging tomfoolery in the rematch, though, putting Perez down with a brutal body shot. It was a fairly incredible comeback by Crolla, who had been seriously injured in a home invasion in 2014.
He has a stiff test ahead of him in Barroso (19-0-2, 18 KO), a previously-unknown bruiser who thoroughly smashed up Kevin Mitchell to earn the interim WBA belt. "El Tigre" proved that his power is absolutely legit and, at least on paper, can certainly give Crolla problems should they put the fight together.
Any early predictions?