A heart warming moment for any boxing fan to see when Anthony Crolla refused to be pulled out of his world title fight against Linares before the final bell rang.

Anyone familiar with Anthony Crolla will know just how big his heart is.

A warrior in every sense of the word. A human being who has overcome adversity outside of the ring that mere mortals could barely fathom.

He came back to the sport of boxing after been told he’d never fight again following a horrific attack by muggers of a neighbours’ house.

Proving the doctors wrong.

He not only came back to pro boxing but went on to excel at the highest level, to become the champion of the world no less.

Perhaps it’s no surprise with moments like this, where Anthony Crolla refused to be pulled out before the final bell last weekend by his trainer Joe Gallagher:

Hat tip @AstarBoxing Twitter:

Crolla refusing to be pulled out of the fight, respect. Heart of a lion. pic.twitter.com/rJoOPDRPPZ

— ASB (@AstarBoxing) March 25, 2017

Alas, it wasn’t meant to be for him on the night with the result of Jorge Linares getting the unanimous decision win to retain his WBA and Ring Magazine 135lbs titles.

But Crolla’s (31-6-3-13KO) will to win, compete and fight can never be doubted.

Instead of getting pulled out he didn’t want to let his hometown fans in attendance in Manchester down, opting to battle to the very end like all true champions.

No doubt in defeat the Englishman will have won over even more fans last weekend. Still at age only 30, he can most definitely come again.