Since making a move to Hollywood from Japan to train under Freddie Roach, major expectations have been placed on former lightweight champion Jorge Linares. Roach and strength and conditioning trainer Alex Ariza could not stop raving about the Venezuelan fighter who they touted as the next superstar boxer to emerge from their stable. Things seemed to be moving in the right direction until Linares faced Mexican Antonio De Marco in a lightweight title match. The bout turned out to be one of the most exciting fights of 2011 and saw De Marco stage one of the most memorable comebacks in recent memory as he overwhelmed Linares in round 11 via TKO.
It was a major setback for Linares as he was heavily favored to win the title the night and possibly be matched against lineal lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez. Linares took a much needed break and though he was not granted the De Marco rematch initially, he is scheduled to fight the champion if he gets through one more test in Sergio Thompson, on March 31st in Cancun, Mexico. We recently sat in on Linares preparing for this upcoming bout as we bringing to you footage of that training session.
