Anthony Crolla should be considered as a British boxing great his promoter Eddie Hearn says.

Crolla, 32, and with a record of 34-7-3, 13 KOs has his 45th and final fight on Saturday night at the Manchester Arena, bidding farewell to a career that began at the same venue on October 14th, 2006 against Abdul Rashid in a four round points win.

Since then Crolla has endured and suffered the typical highs and lows of a boxer, and the not so typical which included being hospitalised in December 2014 after confronting burglars who were robbing a neighbour’s house. A broken ankle and a serious head injury put his whole career in doubt and put paid to a world lightweight title shot against Richar Abril for the first quarter of the following year. And because of how far he has come prior to the injury and afterwards Hearn, who has promoted Crolla for nearly six years, says he should go down as a British boxing great and gave his reasons why to Boxing Scene this week.

“I think he should be remembered as a guy that over-achieved. People can think that’s disrespectful but it’s a massive compliment to over achieve because he will admit he’s not the most naturally gifted fighter of all time but I think he should go down as a British great really.

“For what he’s achieved from where he was, I think he deserves to go down as a British boxing great because this wasn’t a guy who won Olympic gold, was 21-0, boxing all round the world and got a vacant world title shot. If you had said before that Kieran Farrell fight (in 2012 for the English Lightweight title) that Crolla will win a world title, defend it, try and unify it against [Jorge] Linares, got to L.A and fight [Vasiliy] Lomachenko you’d have wet yourself.

“I think he deserves to go down as such a great ambassador for the sport, his community and Manchester. Any young fighter has to look at the work ethic of Crolla and how he’s lived his life. You never see him hanging out of bars at 4am, eating crap in between camps. There’s a lot of miles on the clock when you look at the fights he’s had. The hardest thing will be if he looks brilliant on Saturday! It’s definitely his last one but you want him to look brilliant but you almost want him to look average so you can convince yourself that this is the right decision.”

The stories are that, in sparring, Crolla has never looked better and this has been one of his best camps ever. Something we hear about all fighters regardless of whether it’s their first fight or their last. For this one against Frank Urquiaga, Hearn says that the team may have to make a pact to say this is it. No more fights after this.

“This guy he’s fighting isn’t Lomachenko but he’s gonna have a right go because it’s his world title fight,” said Hearn. “I expect Ant to win in a good fight but then how difficult is it to say, ‘If one more pops up?’ But we’ve all taken the decision in the team to say no. We’ve almost got to make a pact and say this is it because if you can win on Saturday, because we’re going to have 8 or 9,000 in there and it’ll be fantastic, it will be a special moment. And if he can get the win it’ll be a lovely moment to bow out of boxing to say I’ve made my money, I’ve achieved my legacy, I’m fit and healthy, thank you. He’ll stay in the sport a million per cent whether it’s coaching, whether it’s punditry, he’s going to be around boxing for a long time.”

Hearn believes that Crolla could carry on for another three years. His love for the sport, the lifestyle and the buzz of it all is well known and it is always difficult for a fighter to say goodbye to boxing more often than not.

“There’s been times during this camp when I’ve spoken to him and said ‘Ant, this is your last one. Right?’ And he’s like ‘Yeah, it is but people are saying to me you’ve looked better than you ever have before but I know one fight too many…”

And that’s where the concerns come. Not just from Hearn, but from his trainer Joe Gallagher, his gym-mates and crucially from his family. No-one wants to see a boxing fairytale end miserably.

“This story is almost too good to be true so I just want it to be over now. When you’re reading a story that’s too good to be true, you don’t want it to go on and keep reading more chapters and then read about him getting knocked out in his last fight. You just want to close the book and say ‘That was great’. And that’s what I want with his career because you can get greedy. He could hang around and make another fight for three or four hundred grand but that wouldn’t change his life. He’s got his property, he’s got his money, he’s in a great position and he’s smart enough. He looks the part, he’s going to earn a living after boxing so I just want this feel good story to end without any more chapters that might spoil it.”

From losing to Youssef Al Hamidi in his ninth fight, reviving his career at domestic level before saving it against Kieran Farrell no-one could have predicted what would have followed for one of boxing’s most genuine, hard-working and nicest people.

The world title heartache against Darleys Perez, redemption in the rematch before taking the best Ismael Barroso could throw at him before breaking down the tigerish Venezuelan and then mixing it with messrs Linares and Lomachenko. His career has had a bit of everything. The curtain comes down, rightfully, in Manchester and this unexpected success story will hopefully finish off with a win and good health.

“We just want him to get the win on Saturday and walk off into the sunset,” said Hearn.

Twitter @shaunrbrown