Anthony Crolla vs. Ricky Burns set for Oct. 7

Former world titlists Anthony Crolla (31-6-3, 13 KOs) and Ricky Burns (41-6-1, 14 KOs) have officially been scheduled to duke it out on October 7th. Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn tells ESPN the pair will square off at the Manchester Arena in England, in Crolla’s hometown.

"What a fight between two great warriors," Hearn said. "Both Anthony and Ricky are in similar places in the careers and they know that this absolute must-win. Knowing these two like I do this is going to be a fight until the finishing bell with neither taking a backward step. It's an all-British super fight between two great [former] world champions."

Crolla, 30, is coming off consecutive losses to Jorge Linares this past March and the September before it, which he says has given him a sense of urgency to get back into world title contention.

Speaking on the fight, Crolla says:

"It's at a good time for both of us. A win puts us back in the mix for titles. I'm not going to say the loser has nowhere to go, but it's going to be a tough road back. We're both coming off losing our world titles and the incentive is to win the fight and get back in the frame. I could have a tune-up fight on the undercard of somewhere and an easier opponent to get me back into things and then a big fight after but I'm not interested in that."

Burns, 34, is most recently coming off a unanimous decision loss to Julius Indongo in April, who is now going on to unify all 140lb titles with Terence Crawford this weekend on ESPN. Burn will be dropping back down to 135lbs for this match against Crolla. He says he’s also looking forward to the opportunity.