“This is the toughest and biggest fight of my career,” said Crolla, who tipped the scales at 9st 8lbs 10oz, with Rees scaling 9st 7lbs 15oz. “I really respect Gavin, I watched him before he turned pro. You don’t win World titles if you’re not a very good fighter and that was at the weight above – he boxed Adrien Broner and he certainly didn’t disgrace himself as Broner is someone people are tipping to be the next big superstar in boxing.
“Broner is on a different level to the rest. But there are things that he did that I can try to replicate. I’m my own person and my own fighter and you can’t go into a fight trying to be someone you’re not as you’ll come unstuck – there are things Broner does that I cannot do half as well but I’ve been watching a handful of Gavin’s fights including that one and I’ve got a good idea on how to approach him.
“It doesn’t get much bigger than this – I’m under no illusions that it’s a tough, tough, fight and I will have to go to hell and back to win it but I’ve trained really hard for it and smartly too and I’m looking forward to it.
“Gavin is the height of super bantams or featherweights but he has the strength of a welterweight so we’ve had to bring in a lot of different sparring to work on what Gavin brings to the party. I’m the underdog but it doesn’t bother me, I thrive on it and some of my best performances have been when I have been the underdog and I’m under no illusions of the task ahead but if I get it right on the night I can win it.”