BELFAST — Lewis Crocker has set his sights on becoming a two-time world champion after losing his IBF welterweight title to Liam Paro in June, with the Belfast man to begin his route back against Owen Cooper at The O2 in Belfast on 19 December.
Crocker slipped to 22 wins with one loss after all three judges scored Paro a 115-113 winner in Brisbane in his first defence of the title he won last September at Windsor Park against Paddy Donovan. The 29-year-old grew into the contest and pushed for a late finish, but Paro held on to realise his dream of becoming a two-weight world champion. "I got beaten on a very close decision in a world title fight against a two-weight world champion," Crocker told BBC Sport NI. "I gained experience from it anyway, and at 29 I've still got plenty more for whatever opportunity is coming."
"I felt like I had him hurt a lot of times and he was holding, if he gets a point taken off then I win the fight. Shoulda, woulda, coulda..." he added. "That was a long fight back, but I'm over it because I know I'm right there. My main focus now is going to be a two-time world champion." Crocker reflected that the flight home from Australia was a little longer as he pondered a night where he was so near yet so far away, but insisted his first career defeat has only fuelled his desire to rise again.
The first step comes on the undercard of the Anthony Cacace v Nick Ball world super-featherweight title clash, where Crocker — promoted by Matchroom — will box on a Queensberry card in a further sign the old promotional cold war in British boxing is over. The former champion is delighted to be back on home turf and has promised fans a "Christmas Crocker" against former English champion Cooper, 26, who holds a 12-2 record and will view the bout as a golden ticket. Crocker admitted it would have been great to have his first defence in Belfast rather than more than 10,000 miles away on the east coast of Australia, but said defending a world title in Australia is "something you'd dream of as a kid".
"It would have been great to have a first defence in Belfast, but ultimately it doesn't matter - there's still two men getting into the ring," Crocker said. "It's good to be back in Belfast anyway, and get on the road to two-time world champion. More than anything now, I want to be a two-time world champion and we've a great plan ahead but I'm not looking past Owen, because he's a great fighter and I'm expecting a really tough test." His old foe Paddy Donovan is front of the queue to face Paro, while the welterweight division has come alive with Ryan Garcia holding the WBC title, Teofimo Lopez the WBA and Devin Haney the WBO. A second shot at Windsor Park "would be great", Crocker said, but added: "There are four world titles out there, so any one of them [would be great]. [I plan to get] back on track and push towards it, but as I say, Owen's my main focus right now."