Anthony Crolla to face Frank Urquiaga in his final fight

Anthony Crolla (34-7-3, 13 KOs), a former lightweight titleholder, is set for the final bout of his career. Crolla, 32, will take on Frank Urquiaga (13-1-1, 1 KO) in a farewell fight set at Manchester Arena on November 2nd. This fight represents Crolla’s chance to say goodbye to his hometown fans before he hangs up the gloves for good.

Crolla is most recently coming off a knockout loss to Vasiliy Lomachenko in April and made it known that he was looking to have one last hurrah in Manchester before he officially retires.

“This is it, the final one,” Crolla said. “I’ve had so many great nights at the arena down the years, so I’m pleased to be finishing where it all started. Urquiaga knows this is his golden chance. A win against me and he throws his name further into the mix. I can’t let the emotions get to me. I’ve got a job to do first and foremost. I want to bow out with a win.”

Urquiaga, 32, is a Peruvian native who now fights out of Spain. He’s obviously never really fought anyone at the level of Crolla, and is coming off a majority draw in his last outing in February. But despite being brought in to lose against Crolla in good-willed farewell event, Urquiaga is still looking forward to the opportunity.

“It’s a great honor to fight a warrior like Anthony Crolla in his last fight,” Urquiaga said. “Of course, it is a great opportunity for me to win and make a big step to the next level, where there are a lot of good British fighters such as Luke Campbell, Joe Cordina, Lee Selby and Ricky Burns. I’m working hard for this opportunity, I know that British fans are unbelievable, and I want to give them an unbelievable fight.”

Crolla-Urquiaga will serve as the co-feature to Katie Taylor’s title shot against Christina Linardatou, with Taylor looking to move up in weight to claim a junior welterweight title.