By Ian S Palmer
Former WBA and WBC Lightweight Champion Jorge Linares of Venezuela returns to the ring at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Friday, January 18th when her meets Pablo Cesar Cano of Mexico. Linares last fought in September when he stopped Abner Cotto in the third round. Cano’s last tilt came in September as well when he beat Ruslan Madiev by a fifth-round technical decision for the vacant WBC International Silver Super Lightweight Title. That title will be on the line on Saturday and the 10-round bout can be seen in North America on DAZN and on Sky Sports in the UK.
The 33-year-old Linares was defending the WBA Lightweight Title for the fourth time when he ran into Vasyl Lomachenko last May and was stopped in the 10th round. He won the belt in 2016 and also defended it against Anthony Crolla by unanimous decisions then stopped Darleys Perez in the ninth round before beating edging Luke Campbell by split decision and then beating Mercito Gesta by unanimous decision. He enters the ring at 45-4 with 28 Kos under his belt. Linares has plenty of experience, skill and speed and is also a former featherweight and super featherweight world champion who has recently been living in Japan.
Linares won the vacant WBC Lightweight Belt in December, 2014 by stopping Javier Prieto in the fourth round in Tokyo. However, the WBC stripped him of it in February, 2016 after suffering a hand injury and being unable to defend the title. They then named him WBC Diamond Champion for what it’s worth. Linares’ other three losses have been against Juan Salgado in 2009, Antonio DeMarco in 2011 and Sergio Thompson in 2012. Those defeats revealed a questionable chin since all three men and Lomachenko have stopped him.
Linares’ biggest wins have been over Cotto, Campbell, Anthony Crolla (twice), Jesus Chavez, Oscar Larios, Nihito Arakawa and Rocky Juarez. The former champ stands 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 69-inch reach and has fought 305 rounds since turning pro back in 2002. Linares has decent power as he carries a 57 per cent knockout ratio around with him and dropped Lomachenko in the sixth round. However, he has just one stoppage in his last five fights. Before knocking Cotto out his last stoppage came over Ivan Cano in the fourth round in October, 2015.
As for Cano, he’s just 29 years old and will climb through the ropes with a mark of 31-7-1 with 21 Kos. He made his pro debut back in 2006 as a teenager and has boxed 211 rounds since then. He’s 5-feet-7-inches tall with a reach of 71 inches. He’s an inch shorter than Linares, but has a two-inch edge in reach. Cano’s not a knockout artist either and carries around a current knockout ratio of 53 per cent. He’s lost three of his last four and six of his last 12 fights.
Cano’s been stopped three times as Erik Morales halted him after the 10th round in 2011 in a shot at the vacant WBC Super Lightweight Crown. Fernando Angulo stopped him in the ninth round in 2014 and Marcelino Nicolas Lopez halted him in two in October of 2017. His other losses were by split decision to Paulie Malignaggi in a shot at the WBA Welterweight Title in 2012, a unanimous decision to Shane Mosley for the vacant WBC International Welterweight crown in 2013 as well as a 10-round split decision to Alan Sanchez in 2016 and a 10-round split decision to Fidel Maldonado Jr in 2017.
The challenger has plenty of experience against top-class opposition, but has fallen just short when facing them. His biggest wins have been over Mauricio Herrera, Jorge Silva, Ashley Theophane and Johan Perez. He stopped Perez after seven rounds in 2012 to win the interim WBA Super Lightweight Title. Cano has also fought a no-contest with Juan Carlos Abreu in 2015 and his lone draw was a four-round affair with Israel Ramirez in his third pro fight back in 2006.
Prediction…
Linares is a fine boxer, with good power and a somewhat questionable chin, which means he’s similar to Cano, but is slightly better and has been more successful. This has the potential to be an exciting contest and Linares can’t afford to be at anything but his best here. Both boxers should have their moments here, but I’m expecting Linares’ to leave the ring as the winner.
