Who is Frank Urquiaga?
BBN found out some quick facts about Manchester legend Anthony Crolla's (34-7-3) next – and final – opponent Frank Urquiaga (13-1-1), as the pair clash for the WBA Continental Lightweight belt at Manchester Arena on Saturday November 2, live on Sky Sports in the UK and DAZN in the US.
Former WBA Lightweight World Champion 'Million Dollar' fittingly returns to the scene of his debut back in 2006 and also the setting for his greatest triumph when he won the WBA crown against Darleys Perez on an emotional evening at Manchester Arena in November 2015.
The Mancunian hero fights for a final time against Urquiaga after a professional career spanning over 13 years. Ahead of that curtain closer, BBN discovered some interesting facts about his unknown opponent:
STATS
Age: 32
Bouts: 15
Rounds: 95
Wins: 13
Losses: 1
Draws: 1
KO’s: 1
KO Ratio: 7%
Height: 5’ 8”
Born: Lima, Peru
From: Barcelona, Spain
1. Peruvian Frank Urquiaga Cruzatt was born in Lima, the capital of Peru, on February 20, 1987. He now resides in Barcelona, Spain.
2. He's nicknamed ‘La Ley’, which means ‘The Law’ in Spanish.
3. Urquiaga was a Spanish Amateur Elite finalist in 2010 at 64kg. He lost in the finals to Cristian Morales, who went on to become a Spanish lightweight champion in the professional ranks. He also reached the finals of the Future Champions Boxing Tournament in Spain, prior to turning pro.
4. He won his first 12 fights between April 2015-July 2018.
5. He is the no.1 ranked lightweight in Spain, and ranked #13 in Europe.
6. His sole career defeat came when he stepped up to challenge for his first professional title, the EBU European lightweight belt, against Finnish ‘Prince’ Edis Tatli (30-2) in August 2018 in Finland, losing via unanimous decision with scores of 113-115, 114-116 and 112-116 against. His sole conqueror, Tatli, then fought Brooklyn boxing superstar Teofimo Lopez (12-0) in his next fight at Madison Square Garden.
7. His only loss was by two points on two of the three scorecards from the away corner, and the fight with the Finn was an all-out war! Both fighters were hurt as they left it all in the ring over 12-rounds of exciting championship boxing. His defeat was by no means disrespectful, with some fight fans even claiming a robbery. Because of the controversy, he is due to challenge for the title again, this time against current titleholder Gianluca Ceglia (15-3-1), from Italy.
8. In his last fight in February this year, he drew with fellow Catalan and European #11 ranked Ivan Thomas (9-0) over 10-rounds for the vacant Spanish lightweight title, stepping in to replace Alicante’s Ismael Garcia (9-2), who wasn't fit to compete.
9. His forthcoming fight with former WBA World lightweight champion Anthony Crolla (34-7-3) will be his first appearance in the UK, having fought all his bouts, bar one, in his native Spain. The contest will also serve as his third title tilt.
10. His likes to come forward with a high guard and throws his right hand a lot. He doesn’t carry much power in his punch and has a tendency to get caught often.
11. Outside of the ropes, he is a boxing coach and personal trainer, but he is studying to become a PE teacher, which he plans to do as a career once he hangs his gloves up for good.
12. He recently phrased in an interview that, “Boxing is a hard sport for intelligent people."
On his forthcoming November 2 fight, he gratefully stated, “It’s a great honour to fight a warrior like Anthony Crolla in his last fight. Of course, it is a great opportunity for me to win and make a big step to the next level, where there are a lot of good British fighters such as Luke Campbell, Joe Cordina, Lee Selby and Ricky Burns. I’m working hard for this opportunity, I know that British fans are unbelievable, and I want to give them an unbelievable fight."