Ilbay (22-2, 10 KOs) challenges undefeated Crocker (12-0, 7 KOs) for his title at the University of Bolton Stadium, live in the US on ESPN+ in association with Top Rank, and worldwide on IFL TV.
The German has won numerous titles in his career and has also gone the distance with former world title challenger Egidijus Kavaliauskas, and he has identified areas in Crocker that he thinks he can exploit.
Ilbay said: “We looked at a few fights from Crocker and we picked out a few weaknesses that he has got. I’m not going to reveal them just yet, I will show them to everyone on March 12th.
“This is the toughest fight of his career so far, and I’m pretty positive that with a win here my entire team from First to Fight Management and Team Ilbay Boxing can make big things happen in 2021.
“There is a huge year ahead, but I have learned in my career to never look further than your upcoming fight, so I’m just focused on Lewis Crocker.”
Elsewhere on the huge #MTKFightNight on Friday, Gary Cully squares off with Viktor Kotochigov for the vacant WBO European lightweight title, Isaac Lowe returns, Jordan Reynolds makes his professional debut against Robbie Chapman, Sahir Iqbal is back in action, Carl Fail enters the paid ranks for the first time against undefeated Jordan Dujon, and Mace Ruegg meets Johnson Tellez.
It kicks off a huge 7 days, as on March 19, a massive #MTKFightNight takes place, as Lee McGregor challenges Karim Guerfi for his European bantamweight title, and Maxi Hughes meets Paul Hyland Jnr for the vacant British lightweight title.
The event on March 19 also sees Padraig McCrory face Germaine Brown in a clash of unbeaten super-middleweights, Shabaz Masoud goes up against Louis Norman, Jamie Robinson fights Billy Allington, Paul Ryan makes his professional debut against Kyle Hughes, and William Hamilton returns.
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