Anthony Crolla believes victory over Ricky Burns on Saturday night will put him back in contention for a world title fight.
Crolla will attempt to return to winning ways at Manchester Arena on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Action, having suffered defeats to WBA lightweight champion Jorge Linares in his last two fights.
The 30-year-old has plenty of respect for Burns, who was his sparring partner in 2009, but is confident he will come out on top.
“Win this fight on Saturday night and I’m right back in world title contention,” Crolla told Media.
“The fights against Linares didn’t go my way; I know I’ve got to rebuild. But I don’t want to be dropping down a level after being at this level for a good few years.
“I’m expecting a very tough fight but if I fight my fight, I come through.”
Burns is also in must-win territory after losing his WBA Super Lightweight belt to Julius Indongo last April, and Crolla doesn’t expect the drop down in weight to be an issue for the Scot.
“I’m preparing for the best Ricky Burns,” he said. “He’s probably had his best performances at lightweight.
“Ricky has got a great engine; I’m not relying on him tiring down the straight and I’m sure he’s the same with me.
“I think we’ve got two strong lightweights in the ring on Saturday night.”
He added: “I know how hard it is to win one world title. For him to do that at three different weights shows the quality of the guy.
“I don’t plan on moving up three weights but I certainly want to win back a world title.
“Ricky deserves enormous respect. He’s very underappreciated in my opinion.”
Fellow Brit Luke Campbell would like to face the winner of Saturday’s bout and Crolla says both he and Burns would both interest for fighting the Olympic gold medalist.
“Luke is a very good fighter and showed a few weeks back that he belongs at world class,” said Crolla.
“That’d be another battle of Britain and would make for a great fight. I’d be open to that.”
