Linares gains valuable experience with Pacquiao
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 04 Oct 2011
BAGUIO CITY ? Jorge Linares might end up battered after his tour of duty as Manny Pacquiao?s sparring partner in the latter?s preparation for a third fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, but he sure will emerge richer in experience when seeks the World Boxing Council lightweight crown this coming October 15.
Last Friday, Linares savoured what awaits Marquez this November 15 when he was hit by Pacquiao?s powerful left hook that bloodied his right eyebrow in the fourth round of a scheduled five-round skirmish.
Only the headgear he was wearing that saved the forme two-division world champion from further injury.
?No harm done. There was not even a single stitch applied to the wound. But, indeed, Manny is very powerful. Thank God we?re wearing headgear,? Linares said Monday in an interview while preparing doing the mitts with trainer Freddie Roach at the Shape Up gym inside the Cooyeesan Hotel here.
Linares admitted having gained so much experience in being chosen by Roach himself as Pacquiao?s sparring mate, adding it augurs well in his coming fight for the vacant WBC 130-pound title against Tony de Marco.
?I?ve really learned a lot and still learning. The experience gave me many things, especially in my coming fight. Manny is not only very strong, he?s quick too, in both his feet and hands.? Linares, once the holder of the WBC featherweight and World Boxing Federation super-featherweight belts from Caracas, Venezuela asserted.
?The benefit is mutual though,? the good-looking bachelor, who has won 32 of his 33 professional fights with 21 KOs, added . ? He?s given me lesson, I provide him with what he needs for his coming fight with Marquez.
Linares? only loss was dealt by Juan Carlos Salgado, who dethroned him as WBA super-featherweight titleholder two years ago.
Since the sparring segment of Pacquiao?s high-altitude training started a little more than two weeks ago, the two fighters have engaged in toe-to-toe exchanges for 20 rounds with 18 more to come before Team Pacquiao leaves packing for Los Angeles on Saturday.
? Manny will be too powerful, too fast and too good when he and Marquez meet on November 12,? Linares, who fought as an amateur since age 16 and four-time Venezuelan national champion, assessed.
?There?s no way Marquez can win over Manny. As of now, Manny isn?t in tip-top shape yet, but I tell you, he has never shown a trace of being vacant for four months since his last fight,? he said.
Linares, one of three all boys boxing siblings of a former fighter (father Nelson) and a school teacher (mother Mary Alvarez), is a physical education graduate of the Universidad de Venezuela.
The thin-built 5-foot-7 fighter said, like Pacquiao, he loves to play basketball. He also played baseball and once dreamt of playing for the U.S. Major League like many of his countrymen.
?But since my father was a boxer, he taught me and my brothers the sport. So, here I am boxing, instead of playing baseball,? Linares who has been fighting in Japan the past year, said.
A full time pupil of Pacquiao?s chief trainer Freddie Roach, Linares said he has started enjoying the country and will soon be back.
?I love it here. Very beautiful country and very kind people,? he said.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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