By: Hans Themistode
At the age of 35, Jorge Linares is still a fairly young man. However, in terms of boxing, he’s viewed as an ancient fighter. The former multiple division champion still considers himself at the top of his game though, even as he reaches the twilight of his career.
Currently, Linares (47-5, 29 KOs) is putting the finishing touches on his training camp as he prepares to take on WBC lightweight belt holder, Devin Haney. Although the Venezuelan native doesn’t see a dip in his speed or punching power, he’s listened closely as most have viewed him as an aging fighter. Nevertheless, he still believes his credentials in the boxing world demand a level of respect.
“People say Jorge Linares is old, he’s retiring, he lose five times but they don’t recognize that I was world champion four times,” said Linares during an interview with Boxing Social.
Linares will have the chance to add to his already impressive credentials when he takes on Haney. The two are slated to face off on May 29th, at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
While Linares is confident that he’ll take care of business in the next few weeks, he notices the sizable talent of Haney. In the 22-year-olds most recent ring outing, he received a ton of criticism for his performance against long-faded former champion, Yuriokis Gamboa. Most were expecting Haney to walk through the 39-year-old considering he was coming off an Achilles tear and stoppage defeat at the hands of Gervonta Davis roughly one year prior.
Despite those expectations, Haney was forced to settle for a lopsided unanimous decision victory. In the mind of Linares, there was nothing wrong with the showing of Haney. In fact, he was actually impressed.
“I respect him. Little by little he gains experience. I saw his last fight with Gamboa. Gamboa is nothing right now but he does amazing job.”
With the likes of Teofimo Lopez, Ryan Garcia, Gervonta Davis and several others currently crowding the top of the 135-pound division, Linares can’t help but smile when he thinks of all the endless possibilities that await him. With that said, he quickly turns his attention to the task at hand. While he may want to jump into the ring with all of the big names as soon as possible, he knows that if he doesn’t take care of business on May 29th, those dream matchups could go down the drain.
“There’s a lot of good boxers in lightweight but I’m ready. The most important thing is to win this fight and think about the next one.”