Jorge Linares v Juan Carlos Salgado

Not every major fight on Asian soil involves an Asian fighter, in fact several fighters from outside of Asia have forged, at least the early part, of their career in the Orient. One such fighter was Jorge Linares, a Venezuelan born fighter who was based, for several years, at the Teiken Gym in Japan.
Linares had made his debut in Japan in 2002 and although he had fought in various countries it seemed that he was his most comfortable in a Japanese ring. His talent and performances had caught the eye of American promoters Gold Boy Promotions who seemed to plan on making Linares a star Stateside.
Before making his Golden Boy Promotions debut in the states Linares, who was then 27-0 (18), would attempt to defend his WBA Super Featherweight title against the unheralded Juan Carlos Salgado (21-0-1, 15). The odds were hugely in favour of Linares who was fighting in Japan for the umpteenth time against a man who had never competed even near to the world level.
Despite the over-whelming view that Linares was making an easy defence we found out that things aren't always as easy as they seem, in fact we found out that shocks and upsets happen all too easily in our great sport.
Linares had made his debut in Japan in 2002 and although he had fought in various countries it seemed that he was his most comfortable in a Japanese ring. His talent and performances had caught the eye of American promoters Gold Boy Promotions who seemed to plan on making Linares a star Stateside.
Before making his Golden Boy Promotions debut in the states Linares, who was then 27-0 (18), would attempt to defend his WBA Super Featherweight title against the unheralded Juan Carlos Salgado (21-0-1, 15). The odds were hugely in favour of Linares who was fighting in Japan for the umpteenth time against a man who had never competed even near to the world level.
Despite the over-whelming view that Linares was making an easy defence we found out that things aren't always as easy as they seem, in fact we found out that shocks and upsets happen all too easily in our great sport.
Salgado, knowing he was viewed as the under-dog didn't appear to care about the tag and looked determined in the ring staring down Linares from his corner prior to the bell. It was obvious from his expression that he though little of Linares' excellent reputation.
It was obvious from the opening seconds of the bout that Linares wanted to see what Salgado had, he tried to start cautiously and control the distance, pawing a few jabs to see what Salgado would come back with. Salgado however gave Linares little information and in fact the first notable punch the Mexican threw was a somewhat uncultured right hand to the body, a shot that made Salgado look silly in even attempting. The clumsy looking miss of Salgado seemed to instil a false sense of security in Linares who began to cut the distance more than he had in the opening half a minute. This proved to be a big mistake and Salgado took his opportunity to land a perfect left upstairs sending Linares hard to the canvas for the fights first knock down. Linares, who appeared to be shocked by the knock down seemed to rush to his feet with the count at just “3”. It was another mistake from the talented Venezuelan who appeared to be all over the place as the referee continued the mandatory 8 count. Had Linares not been “The Golden Boy” and the defending champion there is every chance the referee would have waved it off with Linares not looking fit to continue. Salgado seemed to realise that Linares hadn't recovered and jumped on him immediately sending him to the canvas for a second time. Although Linares again recovered his feet it was obvious that the referee couldn't allow him to continue again and instead he waved it off before Salgado could do major damage. The fight, over in just 73 seconds, was the first world title bout in Japan to have ended in the first round for over 20 years, in fact the first since 1986 when Tsuyoshi Hamada defeated Rene Arredondo for the WBC Light Welterweight title |
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Fact Box-
Venue- Yoyogi #2 Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan Date-October 10th 2009 Jorge Linares (27-0, 18) 2nd Defence of WBA Super Featherweight title v Juan Carlos Salgado (21-0-1, 15) Referee- Luis Pabon Judges- Raul Caiz Sr Gustavo Padilla Pinit Prayadsab Outcome- Salgado TKO1 Awards-Ring Magazine Upset of the Year 2009 Video below is thanks to tvhgj |
Despite the huge shock victory for Salgado here his reign was to be short with the Mexican returning to Japan 3 months later and being stopped by Takashi Uchiyama in the 12th round.
Despite losing the title to Uchiyama, Salgado would go on to later claim the IBF Super Featherweight title thanks to a victory over Argenis Mendez in 2011. Since then he has actually lost the title to Mendez in a rematch and appears to be looking for another major fight. Now with a record of 26-2-1-1 (16) it seems that the victory over Linares will remain his stand out one. For Linares it didn't take too long for him to re-establish himself thanks to 4 straight victories before suffering back to back losses to Antonio DeMarco and Sergio Thompson, losses that appear to have ended Linares' hope at reclaiming a world title. Linares's record, now standing at 34-3 (24) isn't as amazing as it once looked though it appears that he is looking to re-establish himself in Japan where he has again re-surfaced having fought on the recent card that included Ryota Murata's professional debut. |