Glenn Byrne retires after suffering a brain bleed.
Anthony Crolla was one of Manchester’s most popular boxers of the last couple of decades. Becoming the WBA lightweight champion in his hometown, he also battled pound-for-pound talents like Vasiliy Lomachenko and Jorge Linares.
Retiring in 2019, the 39-year-old still has a presence in boxing through training his younger brother William.
William Crolla has been a presence on Matchroom Boxing undercards since he turned professional in 2023. And though it wasn’t clear what talent he possessed early on, it was quickly apparent that he could punch.
Yes, he could punch very, very hard.
Crolla built up his record to 8-0 with 6 KOs before he ran into Scotland’s Fraser Wilkinson, who surprisingly inflicted a 6th-round stoppage on him.
Crolla returned five months later, looking his best in stopping Harley Hodgetts.
Yet it was his fight earlier this month that captured the attention of so many.
On the 3rd of April, Crolla appeared in the co-main event to cruiserweight hope Pat Brown, who was taking a step-up against the tough Vasil Ducar.
The man who stood in the opposing corner to Crolla was Glenn Byrne, a 7-0-1 Irishman. Byrne possessed a nice record, but wasn’t expected to provide much in the way of trouble.
In the first round, Byrne displayed his technical talent, but didn’t seem to represent an overt danger.
A minute-and-a-half into the second, he caught Crolla with a right to the head, and Crolla was down heavily.
Crolla made it to his feet, but less than 30 seconds later, he was down again. And once more, Crolla got back up and marauded forwards.
He swung away, but Byrne gave worse than he got, and Crolla was floored for a third time with less than 20 seconds left in the frame.
Many times, a trio of knockdowns in the same round has meant the end of a fight. However, at the Planet Ice in Altrincham, referee Ron Kearney thought otherwise and allowed Crolla to continue.
From then on, the fight turned into something of a blood-and-guts war. But over the next few rounds, it appeared Crolla had gained a foothold in the fight and was getting the better of the action.
But early in the fifth, Crolla swung with a left, leaving himself open to a right hand from Byrne that sat him down on the canvas.
That marked Crolla’s fourth trip to the floor, and he successfully beat the count again. However, everyone knew that the favourite was now several miles behind on the cards, and he wasn’t going to win over the distance under any normal circumstances.
Crolla undoubtedly knew this, and he fired away with Byrne. And while he took some, he was also landing some.
Then came the 7th round, the portion of the fight that let everyone know that this wasn’t just the typical slugfest. This was one of those type of fights.
1 minute and 36 seconds in, Crolla threw a right hand that connected squarely on Byrne’s head, and the Irishman was suddenly hurt.
Wounded, Byrne backed into the ropes, and Crolla wailed away. But during a lull in the Mancunian’s work, Byrne landed another right that caused Crolla’s legs to stagger.
From there, the two stood no more than a few inches apart, pounding away at whatever they could see. But during an exchange, Byrne threw a very tired-looking left-right combination, exposing himself to a left from Crolla that stretched him flat on the deck.
The count was waived almost immediately, as it was clear Byrne was not going to rise. And in a startling scene, Byrne’s head rose and fell to the canvas, almost as if his warrior spirit was trying to get him back up despite being unconscious.
The excitement of the spectacle swiftly turned to worry, and Byrne was stretchered from the ring and taken to hospital.
And just under three weeks after the fight, Byrne has now confirmed that he suffered a bleed on the brain, which has forced his retirement from boxing.
The 29-year-old has issued a statement on social media, expressing his heartbreak over a career that has ended after less than two-and-a-half years.
But ultimately, the important thing is that he is okay, and he can reflect on the type of professional journey that not every boxer gets to have.
Here’s to you, Glenn Byrne. Happy retirement.
END OF THE ROAD FOR BYRNE
Glenn Byrne has sadly been forced to retire from professional boxing due to a bleed in the brain from his last fight against William Crolla
He can look back on the opportunities he had in just over 2 years as a pro, even though it’s tough to take at… pic.twitter.com/RjGzjryFK1
— Boxing Tickets NI (@BoxingTicketsNI) April 22, 2026
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