By Hilmar Rojas
Lightweight contender Jorge "Golden Boy" Linares maintains a high pace of work in his ongoing training camp, currently taking place in the Philippines. Under the orders of his trainer Freddie Roach, he took part in twelve rounds of sparring, and four of them with WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao.
The Venezuelan boxer (31-1, 20KOs) is finishing up the final few weeks of his camp, as he prepares for a high profile bout against Mexico's Antonio DeMarco (25-2-1, 18 KO), with the vacant WBC lightweight title at stake. The bout takes place on October 15th at Staples Center in Los Angeles California. The main event will feature a WBC world title defense by light heavyweight Bernard Hopkins, who faces mandatory Chad Dawson.
"I'm doing very well in all aspects. I have no weight problems. I feel strong. I feel great physically. I am satisfied with the work that we've done so far. Sparring with Pacquiao was a great experience. Besides being a great person, he's a great fighter. And I'm sure a lot of good is going to come out of this, so I'm making good on this opportunity. I want to thank Pacquiao and his team for the invitation. I thought they weren't starting their camp for a few more weeks, so I was surprised when Freddie told me he wanted to spar. It was tremendous. I certainly see a great fight [with DeMarco], and if God allows it I will be world champion again," Linares said.