Late last year, Anthony Crolla saw his dream of competing for the world title against Richar Abril in front of his home supporters seemingly shattered when he suffered a fractured skull and a broken ankle after chasing two burglars whom he had caught in his neighbours' house.
However, after several months of rehabilitation, and promoter Eddie Hearn fulfilling his promise of delivering the British lightweight with another opportunity, Crolla will step into the ring with WBA title holder Darleys Perez on July 18 in a bid to become world champion in front of a huge crowd at the Manchester Arena.
Earlier this week, Sports Mole caught up with the 28-year-old as he puts the finishing touches to his preparations ahead of his encounter with the Colombian in just under two weeks' time.
How has training gone so far?
"Training has been good. I've been on the track this morning doing some tough sprint sessions. I feel fantastic and in a really good place."
Obviously it's well-documented about what happened, but could you tell me a bit about the process of getting back into training and what tests needed to be carried out?
"After the injury, I could do little bits, but before I could box again, I had to see a top neurosurgeon and have brain scans. I then had to sit the annual British Boxing Board of Control medical, which is one of the strictest around the world. In general, there were all sorts of tests that I had to undergo.
"Obviously I also had a broken ankle as well, which was broken in two places. For a long time, I wasn't able to run, apart from on a treadmill a few times. There was a lot of rehab, as well as physio a few times a week. It was a long process."
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Once you received the all-clear from the British Boxing board, how long was it before you started sparring and how were you feeling ahead of that?
"That's the main thing that I had to wait on really. That was the last box that needed ticking off. But with the tests, we found that there were no after-effects from the injury. I was kind of excited to take a punch to the head just to see if there were any issues, but fortunately, there wasn't.
"At the same time, that was the most worrying injury. Obviously, as a boxer, having a fractured skull isn't the most ideal injury!"
Was it a case of once you had got that out of the way, you could begin to look forward and focus on everything else?
"Yeah, that was the last box that needed ticking. Before that, I had to see if I could run, and see how my ankle was, but we did that early on and was able to see that my mobility hadn't been hindered. But the sparring wasn't just the last box to tick, it was the biggest one as well, because without being able to take a punch - although it's not like we should be trying to be punched in the head either - but obviously without that, it would mean that I wouldn't be able to box again."
Has having Scott Quigg competing on the same night helped you get back into the process of preparing for a big fight?
"It's been brilliant because Scott and me are good mates. It's not just that, because Scott is the hardest working athlete that I've had the opportunity to train alongside. We've trained alongside each other for a few camps now and it's always worked well and something that we both enjoy. We are able to push each other and get the best out of each other. It's helped me massively. It's given me that extra edge in trying to compete with him in certain parts of training and trying to reach his level."
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Fans in the UK might not know too much about Darleys Perez. What kind of fight can they expect?
"Darleys Perez is a very good fighter, one of the best lightweights in the world. He's a sharp counter-puncher with either hand, but I do believe that our styles will gel for a fantastic fight. It's not new for him having to travel because he's fought in different places before. He has really good pedigree from all the way back in the Olympics.
"I'm under no illusions of how tough this fight is, but I do believe I can beat him. The Manchester crowd will get behind me and that will work for us. I believe that there will be times where we are trading shots and it will be a really exciting fight."
Do you see this fight as a tougher one to Richar Abril?
"They are both very good fighters, but stylistically, Darleys Perez is probably more dangerous because he maybe hits a bit sharper, whereas Abril's strength is that he is very awkward. I think the fans are more better off with the Perez fight."
Derry Mathews is in line to face the winner at some stage. Regardless of how the Perez fight goes, is a third fight with Mathews something that you think will inevitably happen?
"Yeah, I certainly think that it is a fight that the boxing fans in Great Britain would want to see. Derry wants it, I want it, and there would be nothing better than doing it for a world title. I would certainly have no problems in facing Derry Mathews, but first and foremost, my 100% attention is on Darleys Perez and it would be foolish for me to look past him."
Darren Plant
