By Terence Dooley

Manchester’s Anthony Crolla (30-4-3, 12 stoppages) believes he can light up the Manchester Arena once again on Saturday night when he defends his WBA World lightweight belt against mandatory challenger Ismael Barroso (19-0-2, 18 KOs).

It is the first defence of the title he won by halting Darleys Perez in five via a body shot in November; their first fight ended in a majority draw four months earlier, but “Million Dollar” erased all doubts with his performance in the rematch.

Now, though, he has to deal with the hard-hitting Venezuelan, who stopped Kevin Mitchell in five last time out. “I hope Ismael is thinking he'll have an early night but I'm sure he's expecting the toughest fight of his career,” stated Crolla when speaking to the Manchester Evening News.

“I know that I'm expecting that anyway and we'll see on Saturday that it's a fight between two of the best lightweights in the world.”

Pre-fight talk has focused on Barroso’s punch power yet the defending titlist believes his own power has been underplayed despite coming off a clean KO win.

“A lot of my power is overlooked and I feel in the best shape of my career,” said Crolla ahead of Saturday's title defense. “I know Ismael has got the power to win the fight with one punch, but I do feel like I have a lot of strength.”

The show will be shown live on Sky Sports; Amir Khan’s challenge for Saul Alvarez’s WBC and linear middle titles will be carried by BoxNation in the early hours of Sunday morning, so it is a big, long night of boxing in prospect for U.K. fans.

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