As has been rumored for a while now, WBA lightweight titleholder Jorge Linares will be next defending against British Olympic gold medalist Luke Campbell. What is a bit of a surprise is that it will not be in the UK, however, but the fight will instead take place in the Inglewood Forum just outside of Los Angeles. HBO will have the broadcast.
Jorge Linares (42-3, 27 KOs) is my and most people’s top ranked lightweight. In terms of pure skill, he is one of the pound for pound best fighters in the sport. There is a real sense of fragility to his game, however, as provided by his three stoppage losses. Two of those had heavily to do with cuts too. Having gone 10-0 over the last five years, the Venezuelan champion does seem to have proverbially righted the ship. Luke Campbell is likely the most talented fighter that he has faced in some time though.
Luke Campbell (17-1, 14 KOs) won gold at home in the 2012 London games and entered the professional ranks as a highly touted prospect. In December of 2012, however, everything at least briefly shifted in his career when Campbell was upset by underrated Frenchman Yvan Mendy. The English contender is 5-0 since that night with good wins over the likes of Derry Matthews and Darleys Perez, but Linares is a lot better than Mendy so the 29 year old will really have to up his game to pull off the upset here. Still, with his very real talent and Linares’ proven ability to be broken physically, Luke Campbell is a very live underdog here.
Golden Boy wanting this fight in California makes sense for their logistics, I guess, but I can’t help but wonder if they are leaving money on the table by putting this in Inglewood. This fight will be much bigger in the UK than stateside, so it is a curious move. Regardless, HBO will broadcast at 10 PM Eastern. No word on any undercard fights as of yet.
