ANTHONY Crolla definitely has the X Factor - but in boxing, not singing!

The 19-year-old was told in no uncertain terms to stick to the fight game by the ITV show's resident Mr Nasty Simon Cowell.

So he did - and now the talented former national amateur champ is set to make his professional debut at the MEN Arena on October 14.

Crolla, from New Moston, was persuaded to enter the X Factor auditions by friends.

"It was a dare more than anything, but I went down there with a bunch of mates and sang something by the Backstreet Boys," he said. "Simon Cowell told me to stick to boxing - so here I am!"

But Crolla, nicknamed `Million Dollar', is a name that has been talked about in the amateurs for some time.

He won 50 of his 62 amateur fighters, and earlier this year lifted the ABA lightweight title

"He has got the skill, the charisma and the looks to go all the way," said his trainer, former WBU middleweight champ Anthony Farnell, who now has his own gym in Newton Heath.


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