Three-time world titlist Jorge Linares defended his WBC lightweight crown Saturday with his fourth round knockout win against Ivan Cano of Mexico in a 12-round encounter Saturday at the El Poliedro, in Caracas, Venezuela.
Linares dominated the fight from the opening round with solid left and right combinations as Cano struggles with his defenses in the later part of the round. In the second round, Linares continued his unrelenting assault after noticing Cano’s weak defense posturing that allowed his power shots to land on targets. In the third round, Cano tried to go for body shots but Linares was just beyond reach with his superior speed and agility in the ring. Cano took a knee in the later part of round 3 from Linares’ body shot but was able to beat the count and survived the round. Cano lost all three rounds to Linares on points going to the fourth round. In the fourth round, Cano got caught with a solid body shot from Linares, sending the Mexican to the canvas for the count. View Scott Christ’s round by round account here. With the win, Linares (40-3-0, 26 KOs), successfully defended his title for the third time since he beat Javier Prieto by TKO in the fourth round in Tokyo, Japan, last year. Linares is fighting in Venezuela for the first time in more than five years. His last fight was last May at The O2 Arena, Greenwich, London, against Kevin Mitchell to retain the lightweight title. It will be Linares’ ninth win in a row since losing to Sergio Thompson in 2012. Read more. Cano (26-3-2, 15 KOs), who won three of his last four fights with one bout ending in a draw, drops to 26-4-2 with 15 knockouts.
