Jorge Linares: I Don’t Care About Ryan Garcia!
Former three-division world champion Jorge Linares (46-5, 28KOs) did some reflecting on his failed move-up to 140 in 2019. As most know by now, Linares was stopped in a surprising first round upset by Pablo Cesar Cano (33-7-1, 23KOs) in January of 2019.
With all that behind him, Linares, back at possibly his best of weight of 135, will return on February 14 against Carlos Morales (19-4-4, 8KOs) on the undercard of Ryan Garcia-Francisco Fonseca.
ON THE LOSS TO CANO
“A boxer knows why exactly if they have a good preparation for camp. If they’ve done things right and are able to go in the ring at full capacity.
There were a lot of personal things happening but it’s not a excuse for a win or a loss. I went in a bit cold and it was cold also and that’s how boxing is. A surprise can happen at anytime. You can win as you can lose, but it’s in the past and now. I have to make sure I go in the ring warmed up and not make the mistakes I did like in the past.”
A win over Morales could lead to a showdown with rising lightweight prospect Ryan Garcia (19-0, 16KOs) in the near future.
ON RYAN GARCIA
“The most important thing is, well I don’t care about Ryan Garcia at this point because there’s a lot of rivals at 135. If I could, I’d fight Lomachenko tomorrow.
The most important thing for me is to focus on this fight happening on Friday the 14th, who is Carlos Morales. That’s the most important thing right now. The rest will come. If it’s Ryan Garcia, Lomachenko whoever. The most important thing is winning this fight. We prepared well, we closed camp here in LA. I feel great, strong but focused on the goal that is to be Carlos Morales.
I think that he’s capable. He has talent to do big things in boxing. He’ll probably end up at 147 because he’s tall. But he’s young and they can’t be overconfident in his youth because he’s young. Yeah he’s fast, but he’s only fast outside of the ring, not in the ring, not when he has to fight a real fight. When he fights with an experienced boxer who’s good, he’ll get confused.
So if his team takes a shot at a title or with me, I wish him luck but the most important thing is his February 14 date, because he has a rival that’s fought for a world title various times and a fighter that can give him a fight or run or make it hard.”
If both men win on February 14, a showdown between these two seems highly likely. First and foremost, business has to be taken care of by both men.
By: Jerrell Fletcher
