At last, Linares getting his dream fight
WBA lightweight champ gets shot at Lomachenko
Salsa music was blasting from a garage a few blocks from the south end of the Strip.
Inside was Jorge Linares jumping rope to the romance music. “Romantic salsa music is what motivates me,” said Linares, the WBA lightweight champion. “The rhythm goes with me.”
Linares’ rhythmic patterns are noticeable in the ring. The Venezuelan-born Summerlin resident hasn’t lost a bout in almost six years because of his strategic movements and flawless hand speed.
But Linares’ long title reign hasn’t attracted much attention and is often overlooked on pundits’ poundfor-pound lists.
He needed the perfect dance partner to get noticed. Linares has finally found his “Saturday Night Fever” match, and it’s against the John Travolta of the boxing world — the brilliant Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Linares (44-3, 27 knockouts) demanded to face Lomachenko (10-1, eight KOS), and he will get his wish Saturday when the two technicians meet on an Espn-televised main event from Madison Square Garden in New York.
Lomachenko, the WBO junior lightweight titlist, will make his 135-pound debut and is aiming for his third division title in only 12 professional bouts.
“I’ve wanted this fight for three years, and on various occasions I got a chance to watch (Lomachenko) fight in person,” Linares said. “I said, ‘Wow, if he moves up to 135, it would be an excellent fight with him.’ ”
Lomachenko is known as “Hitech” and “Matrix” because of his superior skills. The Ukrainian wizard is a minus 2,000 betting favorite over Linares (plus 1,000) at the Westgate sports book.
Being overlooked is what fueled Linares inside his garage-turnedprivate-gym.
“The people see (Lomachenko) like the best pound for pound, and that’s fine, he worked hard for that, but we’re going to see if that’s the truth on May 12,” said Linares, a three-division champion. “I come to take his pound-for-pound title away, and I want to let the people know that Jorge Linares is also one of the best in the boxing world.”
Linares, 32, said his boxing skills are on par with Lomachenko, 30,
and believes his size and power advantages will help him win the fight.
“Linares is one of the best fighters in his weight class,” Lomachenko said. “I don’t think it’s going to be easy work.”
Linares struggled to find his footing in the ring early in his career, with three knockout losses. But he has won 13 consecutive fights since hooking up with trainer Ismael Salas in 2012.
Salas won’t be in Linares’ corner Saturday. He had a commitment to David Haye, who lost to Tony Bellew last week.
Linares’ younger brother, Carlos, will be the lead man in the corner.
“Everything went smoothly,” Jorge Linares said. “We’ve put in the work for 10 weeks. Now it’s time to execute.”
Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Gmanzano24 on Twitter.
record with a 9-under 63 and had a five-shot lead after 36 holes, the largest in the 45 years of this tournament.
Three other players have led by as many as three shots through 36 holes at The Players — Lanny Wadkins (three) in 1979, Greg Norman (three) in 1994 and Day (four) in 2016. All went on to win.
The sand wedge in the water on the 17th ruined his round but not his day. Simpson couldn’t miss putts he wasn’t even trying to make, whether it was a 35-foot eagle putt on his second hole or a 30-foot birdie putt up the slope and into the cup on the 15th.
Simpson was the seventh player to shoot 63 on the Stadium Course — five since 2013 — and his 15-under 129 tied the 36-hole record set two years ago by Jason Day.
Charl Schwartzel (66), Patrick Cantlay (68) and Danny Lee (66) were five shots behind.
Tiger Woods at least gets to return on the weekend. He made the cut on the number (1-under 143) after a 71 in the easier morning conditions.
Woods was outside the cut line until Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas each made bogey on the 18th.
At Sciacca, Sicily, France’s Julien Guerrier (65) and Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard (68) share the lead at 9-under 133 at the halfway mark of the Sicilian Open, one shot ahead of first-round leader Ryan Evans (69) of England.
European PGA: