PACQUIAO SPARRING PARTNER LINARES LOSES BY DRAMATIC 11TH ROUND TKO
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 16 Oct 2011
Former two-division world champion JorgeLinares of Venezuela, the sparring partner of pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao during his recent training camp in the Philippines summer capital of Baguio City has lost by a dramatic 11th round TKO to WBC No.1 ranked lightweight contender Antonio DeMarco in a battle for the vacant World Boxing Council lightweight title.
The fight was on the undercard of the Bernard Hopkins-Chad Dawson WBC/Ring Magazine light heavyweight title fight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Manila Time.
AKTV IBC 13, the free-to-air sports channel of ABC 5 will telecast the fights at 9:00 p.m. tonight..
Linares was ahead on the scorecards of all three judges when he decided to stand toe-to-toe with Demarco and paid the price as DeMarco stunned Linares and launched a furious assault battering him across the ring giving referee Raul Caiz Sr no choice but to call a halt at 2:32 of the round.
Linares, an excellent boxer with hand-speed and pinpoint accuracy dominated DeMarco in the first five rounds to pile up the points but Demarco clawed back in round six where he opened a cut on the bridge of Linares? nose.
Another nasty cut over the right eye of Linares clearly hurt the vision of Linares as blood kept pouring from the cut. DeMarco capitalized on Linares? discomfort to pull off a dramatic victory.
At the time of the stoppage Linares was leading 98-92 on the scorecards of two of the judges and 99-91 on the third making the loss even more painful.
De Marco improved to 27?2-1, 20 KO?s while Linares dropped to 31-3 with 20 knockouts.
Prior to the fight Linares said ?It has been a great camp. I sparred a total of 30 rounds against Manny Pacqiuao. We helped each other. I want to thank him as well. It is going to be a great fight.?
Linares also expressed his gratitude to his new training combination of the celebrated Freddie Roach and strength and conditioning guru Alex Ariza who have worked together with Pacquiao since some weeks before Pacquiao destroyed former WBC lightweight champion David Diaz in nine rounds.
He said ?I want to thank everyone for being here. I want to thank my two new trainers Alex Ariza and Freddie Roach.?
DeMarco for his part said ?I am excited to be here. I feel chills. I feel very excited. I feel like crying and I will not miss this second chance. I am ready. ?
He added, ?I just want to say I am a dreamer. Everything that you have in mind you can achieve your goals. It has not been easy to get a second shot, and I won?t miss this opportunity. ?
Photo: Jorge Linares, left, of Venezuela, is covered with blood as he fights Antonio Demarco, of Mexico, in the 11th round of a WBC lightweight title boxing match in Los Angeles, Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011. Demarco won by TKO in the 11th round. (AP Photo/Jae Hong)
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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