Jorge Linares tasted the canvas twice via two monstrous left hooks from Zaur Abullaev before the contest was brought to a merciful 12-round TKO this past weekend in Ekaterinburg, Russia. The bout marked Linares’s second straight loss and third defeat in his last five fights, prompting some fans to call for the 36-year-old Venezuelan warrior to retire.
While the pleas to put the gloves down continue, DAZN News wanted to take a moment to flash back to some of the great fights Linares gave us in his prime … and even out of it. Here are five of them revisited.
Stopping Oscar Larios in the 10 round; July 21, 2007
Having competed in Japan, Venezuela and Panama prior to this point, Linares made a splashy U.S. debut all the more memorable by using his jab to set up a bevy of power shots that produced a 10-round TKO of Larios to be crowned the WBC world featherweight champion. That he did it against a former world champion in Larios and that the performance came on the Bernard Hopkins-Ronald “Winky” Wright undercard in Las Vegas made Linares’ coming out party official.
The proving point in Anthony Crolla rematch; March 25, 2017
Linares had edged Crolla by unanimous decision the September prior to win the WBA and vacant The Ring lightweight titles. But the points victory (117-111, 115-114, 115-113) was a little too close for comfort for Linares, who immediately invited the Brit to a rematch. Well, Linares didn’t leave any room for doubt in the rematch, launching a picture-perfect, sweeping left uppercut to drop Crolla in the seventh round toward a dominating unanimous decision by larger margins (118-109 on all three judges’ scorecards) to retain his world title.
Edges Luke Campbell in split decision; Sept. 23, 2017
A crisp left-right combination to head dropped Campbell in the second round and although Linares inexplicably took his foot off the gas midway through the fight, he seized control once again during the championship rounds to take the split decision and retain the world lightweight title. The victory punctuated a solid year for “El Nino de Oro.”
Threatening to knock Vasiliy Lomachenko out; May 12, 2018
A defeat can be memorable, too, especially if fireworks are produced. Linares did exactly that in Madison Square Garden against the believed pound-for-pound best. Lomachenko was surgically breaking the champion Linares down by changing levels and landing slicing shots with accuracy but all that changed in a heartbeat during the sixth round when Linares detonated a straight right hand that landed flush to Loma’s head and put the Ukrainian on his backside.
The knockdown made for a dramatic turnaround in the bout and although Lomachenko would rebound to end the clash four rounds later on a liver shot, it made for a memorable fight in New York City. Lomachenko became the fastest in boxing history at that point to become a three-division champion, but Linares more than earned his respect.
Making things interesting against Devin Haney; May 29, 2021
A 35-year-old spry Linares entered the ring against a 22-year-old Haney, who was looking to make his third straight WBC world lightweight title defense. And for nine rounds, Haney used his speed and plenty of pop to his punches to comfortably be on cruise control. But during the waning seconds of the 10th round, Linares showed why he’s a three-division world champion — and one with some sting left to his punches as well.
That’s when Linares used a short right hand to rock Haney’s jaw before ushering the champion, who was on jelly legs, back to his corner with some showmanship. The electric moment instantly injected the fight with some excitement as the young champion was still nursing wobbly legs in the 11th and nearly got dropped in that round, having to survive that frame and the 12th. Haney took the unanimous decision courtesy of his earlier work but Linares made a solid showing for himself late and once again reinforced the notion to never count a proven warrior out.
If this is the end, Linares has given boxing fans plenty of memorable fights with a 47-7 record including 29 knockouts. You can watch some of Linares’s fights on DAZN.