Jorge Linares finally hitting his stride
Every athlete, every fighter — heck, every person — develops at different stages of their lives.
Some fighters seamlessly jump from decorated amateur to prospect to world champion. Others suffer setbacks early in their careers and figure it out down the line — or they don't.
And then there's the curious case of Jorge Linares.
The Venezuela native debuted on American airwaves in 2007 riding a wave of fanfare. Linares resides in Japan, and all anyone could talk about was the highly-touted prospect who was challenging champion Oscar Larios on the undercard of Bernard Hopkins' pay-per-view bout against Winky Wright.
Linares came as advertised. He displayed an incredible blend of speed, power and athleticism and stopped Larios in the 10th round to win a 126-pound title.
A star was born, right?
Not so fast.
Four fights later, Linares was shocked with a first-round stoppage at the hands of Juan Carlos Salgado.
Perhaps he simply had an off night. But no.
Five fights later, Linares (41-3, 27 KOs) was handily beating Antonio DeMarco when his face was ripped to shreds, and the bout was finally stopped in Round 11. The hype train was completely derailed five months later when Linares was blasted out inside two rounds by Sergio Thompson in Mexico.
Another top talent exposed. Another overhyped boxer from overseas, right?
Maybe not.
Linares is now 31, and he appears to finally be hitting his stride. Sure, the nagging injuries are still there (Linares defeated Anthony Crolla with an injured right hand in September to win a 135-pound title.)
The talent is still abundantly there — in spades. His last defeat? That setback to Thompson, which many thought would effectively end his career as a top fighter.
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Linares is set to rematch Crolla on Saturday in his opponent's native Manchester, England — televised live on Showtime at 6 p.m. ET — and if the Golden Boy Promotions fighter can win again, and look even better doing it, some marquee fights await that can finally, after all these years, announce his arrival.
"We want to close this chapter, we're coming to knock him out and end this so there's no future fight," Linares told USA TODAY Sports during a phone interview Monday through translator Robert Diaz, the matchmaker for Golden Boy. "We want to come to the U.S. market, fight the big fights and fight the big names."
There's no bigger name than Mikey Garcia in the 135-pound division, and Linares might just get his wish.
After all, the lightweight champion and recognized pound-for-pound top-10 boxer will be a special guest analyst on Showtime's coverage, and he's mandated to face the winner of Linares-Crolla. A Garcia-Linares fight? That's the kind of matchup Linares dreams of.
The kind of matchup that will carry Linares to an anticipated matchup in America and on U.S. television.
Despite his vast talent, Linares has never headlined a major show stateside. His biggest fights — like the ones against Larios and DeMarco — came on the undercards of pay-per-views.
But Diaz, who also serves as a father figure to Linares, believes he's inching closer to his goal.
"He's ready for those (big) fights, he's shown it in his last few fights. I don't think we've seen the best Jorge Linares yet. This will the best Jorge Linares. Fans will say 'wow, let's see him against Mikey Garcia, against (Vasyl) Lomachenko.'
"Some fighters peak earlier, some fighters peak later, but with Jorge he's now at a point of his career where talent is there and maturity is there. Like fine wine, he gets better with time. He's sitting on his punches."
If Linares can really sit on his punches Saturday and score the knockout, that would be a big statement to attract the likes of Garcia and Lomachenko, the 130-pound champion many regard as the best fighter in the world.
Linares is now training with respected coach Ismael Salas in Las Vegas, and the fighter believes slowly but surely, everything is coming together. Even if it's later than he — and everyone else — hoped it would be.
"With the preparation I had right now for this fight, I wish it was Mikey Garcia I was fighting," Linares said. "I'm coming in the best shape of my life. If everything comes according to plan, then yes, I would love to fight Mikey. I respect him tremendously, he's a great fighter. It would be a tremendous fight, a beautiful, tough fight, but hey i have my skills, too."
Those skills will be on display Saturday in England, and could — should — carry him to what he really wants in life.
Hey, it's always better late than never.