Jorge Linares believes he has the experience to challenge Devin Haney when the pair of them meet.
Haney will fight the Venezuelan on May 29 in a fight streamed by DAZN, with the 22-year-old’s WBC belt on the line.
35-year-old Linares was speaking to the DAZN Boxing Show, and was happy to praise his opponent.
“I’m very happy and I always say thank you to the Haney team because he gave me this chance,” he said.
However he said that Haney would have to be ready for a challenge.
“He’s ready to fight for me, I hope so,” he said.
“It’s a different thing, it’s talent. I have respect that he’s a champion. More important is that we have the fight, we have to show everyone, every fan, we’re ready to make a good fight.”
He continued: “It’s different levels. Haney’s a young guy, he has an amazing talent, but he never had experience. I have a lot of experience. I have speed, a strong punch. For me I need to be more ready than before.
“I don't know what style he wants to do. I don't know what strategy he wants to do. I don’t know if he wants to run all night like [Yuriorkis] Gamboa. I need to be ready for something different. I don’t think he wants to do the same thing as always.”
After Linares was out of action with coronavirus, he claimed that he was now an even better boxer.
“I was ready for a long time to make a fight also with Fortuna but the situation with coronavirus, I got coronavirus three or four weeks before the fight so I cancelled the fight,” he said.
“I was trying to change the date to fight with Fortuna, I’m always training here. I always have pressure in my genes.
“Now I get this opportunity, the most important thing is I never take a long time to be at rest.
“I've been here for a long time in Japan, we still have this situation, the regulation is very strong, we’ve been training always. I feel better than before. In my opinion I feel much better than before.”