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Anthony Crolla beats Edson Ramirez after picking up nasty looking gash to right eye
British lightweight came through on points in a bloody bout with the Mexican puncher as he aims for a title shot
ANTHONY CROLLA can jet off on his stag do happy his career is back on track after he battled through a bloody bout to beat Edson Ramirez on Saturday night.
The former lightweight world champion, 31, got a generous unanimous decision with a 100-91, 100-90, 98-92 scorecard after he dabbed away the Mexican and his own blood.
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An August wedding to fiance Fran means he is taking the lads on tour in a couple of weeks for one final knees-up.
And - after managing a gashed eye from early on - he will be able to enjoy the jolly after the 33rd win of his career.
The Manchester hero lost two world title shots again the brilliant pound-for-pound king Jorge Linares in March 2017 and September 2016.
But he banished the memory of those 24-gruelling rounds against one of the sports biggest stars with a win over Ricky Burns in October and followed it up with another triumph in Cardiff.
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The fans’ favourite is desperate to get back to the top-tier of the division and although he recently released a book, he insists there is still room for some thrilling chapters of his career.
Since the Burns win, Crolla has had to fight off a couple of niggly injuries but he looked in perfect nick against until a wound opened above his right eye at the end of the third.
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It looked like a clash of heads caused the cut but wily Ramirez threw plenty of rasping jabs at the wound to blur Crolla’s vision and encourage the ugly red flow into his eyes.
In the sixth round Crolla was the victim of a low blow and Ramirez was warned after the referee deemed it to be his second offence, but no point was deducted.
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And Crolla kept control of the bout in rounds seven and eight but he never looked like he was hurting Ramirez who knew he needed to do something spectacular to get a points win on British soil.
But he was handed the win with some wide scoring to keep his hopes of a return to the top alive.
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