by Simon Williams
at the Manchester Arena

IT WAS heartbreak once again for Anthony Crolla following a controversial draw in his WBA lightweight title fight against Darleys Perez in Manchester on Saturday night.

The home town hero was returning to the ring for the first time in seven months following a vicious attack by thieves that left him with a cracked skull and broken ankle.

But Crolla looked far from showing any signs of being ring rusty following his long absence from the squared circle and looked to be in control throughout the 12 rounds.

And the result of the fight looked to have been a foregone conclusion after referee Howard Foster deducted two points from the champion Perez for persistent low blows.

However, the 12,000 fans that had packed inside the Manchester Arena to show support for the 28-year-old fighter were left shocked after the judges were split, the score cards reading 114-113 to Perez, 116-111 to Crolla and 113-113.

After the fight promoter Eddie Hearn also believed that Crolla had done enough to win the fight. He said: “I thought he won the fight. He was controlling the fight with his jab.

“After two point deductions I don’t see how you can’t give it to Anthony Crolla. He deserves to be world champion.”

In the other main event of the evening Britain’s Scott Quigg stopped Spain’s Kiko Martinez inside two rounds to retain his super-bantamweight title in impressive fashion.

This was his sixth defence of his WBA title and was arguably his toughest yet against the former IBF World Champion, Martinez.

The Bury-born fighter looked cautious in the first round, offering very little in attack as Martinez controlled the ring for long periods.

But Quigg responded in the second round and immediately saw his opponent drop to his knees following a right uppercut.

Sensing victory, the champion unleashed two devastating nine punch combinations without reply before a right hook finally knocked Martinez to the ground for a second time.

“The first round was about testing his power and in the second I came out a bit more,” said Quigg.

“I just set him up and for the shot and it was a peach of an uppercut. I got the job done and finished him well.”

The 26-year-old will now set his sights on Belfast’s Carl Frampton who successfully retained his IBF super-bantamweight title on points against Alejandro Gonzalez Jnr in Texas on Saturday.