Luke Reddy
BBC Sport boxing reporter at Manchester Arena

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Mike Costello is joined by Steve Bunce and WBO heavyweight challenger Hughie Fury on 5 live tonight. They watch on as Jack Arnfield and Brian Rose go at it. Rose takes deep breaths in his corner as his trainer holds an ice pack to his chest. 

The crowd are sedate, respectful of the action but chatting and you can hear laughter as a night out ensues. Give it a while and that will be replaced with nothing but intense noise as the main event unfolds.

And as an aside, in order of popularity, these guys are asked for many a selfie on a fight night. 

1. Eddie Hearn 2. Johnny Nelson 3. Steve Bunce

Bunce is safe at his desk but boy has he done some posing.

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Linares is no stranger to fighting on away territory having only contested four of his 44 professional bouts on home turf in Venezuela.

Unable to fight in his homeland under the age of 18, he moved to Japan and made his professional debut at 17 - setting up in Tokyo where he admits he was initially "always lonely".

Since beginning his career at the renowned Teiken Boxing Gym he has built a reputation as a fighter with fast hands and a dangerous counter-puncher.

He was WBC world featherweight champion at just 21, claimed the WBA crown at super-featherweight less than two years later and won the WBC title at lightweight in 2014.

Linares believes he is "better prepared" than he was in his first Crolla meeting, adding: "I'm coming in and doing whatever is necessary to win more convincingly than I did in September."

Thanks for the number crunching, Luke. 

Now if you're tuning in I'm guessing you're familiar with Manchester's finest Anthony Crolla, but how about Jorge Linares?

Let's take a look at the Venezuelan.

Luke Reddy
BBC Sport boxing reporter at Manchester Arena

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Now I'm all for stats but do we really need to know fist size, thigh thickness and forearm size?

There's a page on tale of the tape in the programme and my word did they make that tape work.

Go get the tape measure and see how big your fist is.

For those of you who think the stats are critical, I can tell you Jorge Linares has a 21 inch thigh compared to Crolla's 22. But the critical gun show goes to the Venezuelan - a 14 inch bicep compared to Crolla's 13. Get back in the gym Anthony, it's arm day tomorrow.

So there's one fight to go on the undercard before Linares v Crolla gets under way, it pits Blackpool training mates Brian Rose and Jack Arnfield against one another at middleweight.

Never mind the boxing, there's some serious ink on display. Brian 'the Lion' Rose has, you guessed it, a lion tattooed on his chest, while Arnfield has a woman on his chest and a boxer on his ribs.

We'll let you know how this one pans out.

As is former WBO world middleweight champion Andy Lee.

Unbeaten British super-lightweight Ohara Davies is impressed with what he has seen from Katie Taylor.

Katie Taylor, who maintained her unbeaten record since turning professional with an 80-72 points win over Milena Koleva, tells Sky Sports: "I definitely needed eight rounds, we are trying to progress quickly so hopefully 10 rounds comes next.

"It was a great contest against a strong opponent who gave it everything she had.

"Hopefully I will have two or three fights then fight for a world title. It is great to be boxing again on such a big bill, it's an honour to be here."

Katie Taylor is building quite a following, it seems, here's what the former Olympic champion had to say after her latest victory...

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In addition to the WBA title, Linares' Ring Magazine belt will be on the line and victory would see Crolla become the first Englishman to hold it at lightweight.  

The winner will also take the WBC Diamond belt. 

Oh, and perhaps more more importantly from a fans' perspective, Crolla will hope a win can bring a potential shot at Mikey Garcia in Las Vegas to fruition.

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It was a gruelling battle at Manchester Arena last September, but one Jorge Linares ultimately came out on top of.

Anthony 'Million Dollar' Crolla led on two of the judges' scorecards after nine rounds when the pair met six months ago, but lost the title in a unanimous points decision.

It was his second defence of the WBA lightweight title Crolla won from from Colombia's Darleys Perez, and Linares immediately offered him a rematch.

As we wait for a bit of reaction to Katie Taylor's win, let's turn our attention back to the main event at Manchester Arena tonight.

Jorge Linares versus Anthony Crolla is about an hour away.

Fair play to Milena Koleva, she's gone the distance despite Katie Taylor looking to finish it before the bell.

Taylor takes a unanimous points victory and remains on course for a world title shot in the near future.

That's four pro fights and four victories for the Irishwoman now and Eddie Hearn must be licking his lips with this charge on his books.

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BBC Radio 5 live

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Fancy listening to tonight's action?

You can click the link at the top of this page or, of course, switch on your radio.

The BBC Radio 5 live team are at Manchester Arena, with Mike Costello, Steve Bunce and Hughie Fury going live at 10:15 GMT.

Taylor downs Koleva for the first time in the seventh.

She bounces back to her feet and is just about hanging in here as another Taylor combination comes the Bulgarian's way.

But it's going to the eighth and final round...

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As always we want your thoughts and predictions on the night's action.

Can Anthony Crolla regain his world title or will Jorge Linares be just too good, as he was when the pair first met in September?

Tweet us using the hashtag #bbcboxing and we will post your comments on this page.

Katie Taylor is in control of this one. 

She's picking her punches and then absorbing the brief flurry of swings Milena Koleva offers in return.

Koleva is having to soak up a few to the body and then Taylor taunts her with a few sidesteps, but the Bulgarian doesn't seem too fazed.

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Luke Reddy
BBC Sport boxing reporter at Manchester Arena

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The lights beat down and the seats fill up. We've had those renditions of "Manchester, la la la, Manchester, la la la." They are just timid right now, the roof firmly on this place as Katie Taylor goes at it. Expect that to change as the 15,000 expected get amped up for the main event. 

Oh, and aside from Anthony Crolla, the most popular man here tonight is Tony Bellew. The Bomber is embraced by the great and good of the sport at every step. 

Our man at the Manchester Arena is Luke Reddy. So let's check in with him to see how things are hotting up inside the arena...

If all goes to plan, promoter Eddie Hearn hopes to bag Taylor a world title fight by the end of the year.  

The 30-year-old Irishwoman, kitted out in black with a gold trim, is looking sharp so far and I'm sure Hearn will be happy. 

Koleva is holding her own, though. She's sporting a red top and some rather lairy two-tone pink shorts.

I make this Taylor's so far.

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