Moments ago at the Mandalay Bay resort and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada former champion Jorge Linares won a clear and convincing ten round decision over Houston, Texas? Rocky Juarez. Scores read 99-90 twice and 97-92, all in favor of Linares.
The bout wasn?t filled with excitement but Linares? deft movement and superior boxing ability definitely could be appreciated. Once one of the rising forces in the game, Linares suffered a shocking upset first round knockout loss to Juan Carlos Salgado in October of 2009 and he is still trying to shake that defeat off. His victory over Juarez may not have been the conclusive performance he was looking for but he still seized the initiative and won nearly every round. Linares was able to break through and score a knockdown in the fifth round after catching Juarez with a right hand.
Juarez best moments came over the second half of the fight when his aggression would pay off in spots as he tagged his Venezuelan foe with sneaky right hands. While apparently shook on a few occasions Linares still kept his composure and boxed his way out of trouble. Linares sees his record rise to 29-1 with 18 knockouts while Juarez falls to 28-7-1 in his well documented, hard luck career. Juarez has also lost to the likes of Juan Manuel Marquez, Marco Antonio Barrera on two separate occasions, Humberto Soto, and Chris John.
Anyone who saw Linares? July 2007 stoppage over former champion Oscar Larios can attest that they were witness to a fighter with special potential. In that near flawless performance Linares boxed effortlessly and picked apart his Jalisco, Mexico foe with pinpoint counter-punching. Taking place underneath the Bernard Hopkins-Winky Wright fight at the Mandalay Bay, Linares claimed the WBC featherweight title with that performance and announced his presence to the world. His mission as a fighter is to now recapture that glory.
Linares landed 193 out of 541 punches for a 36% rate while Juarez was 83 out of 473 for an 18% clip. Coming back from a devastating knockout loss is never easy and Jorge Linares still has his work cut out for him but tonight was a step in the right direction for the 24-year old.
