Crolla, 28, was seemingly the victor in a tight contest with the Colombian champion, although was left disappointed alongside a full house of fans at Manchester Arena following the judges’ decision to declare the fight a split decision draw.
‘Million Dollar’ is in the process of awaiting a review on the result ordered by the World Boxing Association and says if it came to the crunch he would head to Perez’s home turf in his bid to win a return after reflecting on the event.
“The ring walk was unreal and it was a moment like that that every young boxer dreams of, it was the highlight of the night for me, even though there were plenty. To walk out in front of a huge crowd like that in Manchester was something else,” Crolla stated on his Kicca account.
“I’ve only watched the fight back once, which is always hard and I felt I was very unlucky to draw. Though I’ve watched the ring walk back a few times now and it was unbelievable and something I’ll never forget.
“I was excited to get in there and to be honest I was expecting a good reception before going out. I was getting told by some of the lads in the changing room that the atmosphere was pretty mad.
“I didn’t realise the crowd were singing my name when I was appearing on the big screen as I can’t hear from back in the changing room. I watched it back on Sky though and you can hear all the fans, people shouting my name and things like that and it’s very special to me.
“People have been saying it was a career-best performance and that I should be world champion but I can still find areas to improve on. Defensively I was good but I still need to work on getting my right hand up a little bit more but that’s a good thing because I’ve been in with a world champion and I know there’s still a lot to come from me.
“I needed the fight to prove I could mix at world level, when it comes to the big nights a lot of suspected world class fighters don’t deliver. I feel like I’ve beaten world class fighters before but now I have been in for a world title and it puts it beyond doubt.
“The rematch is the one that I want next and it’s the fight that the people want to see. The WBA are looking into the fight and already have an inquiry going on but the best scenario for me is that they order the rematch. It don’t bother me if I go to Colombia to fight him but I’m pretty sure it’ll be back in Manchester,” he added.
Prior to the fight, Crolla had suffered life-threatening injuries in an attack by two youths in England and went on to perform admirably on the night to fully deserve another chance.
