Lewis Crocker: ‘You witnessed a kid who changed his life tonight’ – Belfast fighter on world title win

After a stellar junior amateur career, Crocker turned professional in 2017. Three years later, he stopped England’s Louis Greene in the seventh round to win the WBO European welterweight title in Wakefield.

Two successful defences of that belt followed before attracting more attention with a dominant win over Tyrone McKenna – who beat Dylan Moran on Saturday’s Windsor Park bill – in December 2023.

“I’m just getting started in my career, and a thank you to Eddie [Hearn, Matchroom boss] it took that Tyrone McKenna fight to change my life to get some publicity.

“Here I am. World champion at Windsor Park. The best night of my life.”

The big question, naturally, centres on Crocker’s next step. In the ring, he was quick to call out Conor Benn, who has not fought since losing to Chris Eubank Jr in April.

“I just think, domestically, it’s a huge fight with great styles.

“It’s going to be entertaining from the get-go. Benn’s a quality fighter. People always mention his name but I always thought there was no point in saying anything because I didn’t have a bargaining chip, why would he fight me, but I’m world champion now.”

Hearn, too, was keen to insert some illustrious names into Crocker’s orbit, including two-weight world champion Devin Haney, WBA kingpin Rolando Romero and WBO belt holder Teofimo Lopez.

“They’ve never had a night like that in Belfast with those kind of names coming to Belfast,” said Hearn.

“But with Lewis and Conor being part of the Matchroom team, it’s an easy fight to make. We had one more stand [in the stadium] tonight and you’d certainly do that for a Conor Benn fight and if we did it at the O2, he [Crocker] would half fill it up with you lot anyway.”

Whatever Crocker does next, he will tackle his next challenge with a long sought after piece of hardware around his waist – and with the euphoria of having captured it in his own backyard still fresh in his memory.