Anthony Crolla will meet John Simpson at the SECC in Glasgow on March 1, live on Sky Sports.
Manchester contender Crolla is hunting a World title shot this summer, and will face Greenock’s Simpson on the undercard of Ricky Burns’ WBO World Lightweight title defence against unbeaten American Terence Crawford.
Crolla claimed the vacant WBO Inter-Continental title in June 2013 against Gavin Rees and defended the belt against fellow Manchester man Stephen Foster in November, forcing Foster to retire after six rounds on the undercard of Carl Froch’s epic clash with George Groves in Manchester.
Former British Super Featherweight champion Simpson boxed at Lightweight for the first time in Hull against local favourite Tommy Coyle in November, replacing Rees for the bout and putting in a spirited performance before a seventh round stoppage loss.
“Anthony is gunning for a shot at Ricky Burns in 2014 and victory over John Simpson and a ranked opponent on the April 19 show in Manchester will put him in prime position,” said promoter Eddie Hearn.
Crolla and Simpson’s clash is part of a great night of action in Glasgow on March 1, topped by Burns’ tenth World title fight against Omaha’s Crawford.
Olympic Gold medal hero Anthony Joshua MBE continues to step up his opposition in his fifth pro contest against Hector Avila, the experienced Argentine that took Dereck Chisora nine rounds in London in April.
Unbeaten Lightweight Scotty Cardle faces former British Featherweight champion Paul Appleby in his first outing of 2014, and there’s also action for former Team GB star Martin J. Ward, unbeaten trio David Brophy, Michael Roberts and Ryan Collins, plus a second fight for Scott Allan, who makes his debut this weekend.
