By Jake Donovan
On the surface it might seem like "just" another title fight.
However, the news of Jorge Linares and unbeaten mandatory challenger Dejan Zlaticanin coming to terms for their forthcoming lightweight title fight carries significance that goes way beyond the matchup in the ring.
For now, all that is known is that the bout will air live on Showtime, which has expressed interest from the moment the matchup was on the table.
“Linares vs. Zlaticanin is a fight that we pursued very aggressively,” Stephen Espinoza, executive vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports informed BoxingScene.com. “We’re thrilled to have secured the rights to televise it on Showtime Championship Boxing.”
In addition to Linares’ World Boxing Council (WBC) title at stake, the winner will be recognized by BoxingScene.com and Transnational Boxing Ratings Board (TBRB) as the true World lineal lightweight champion. The crowning – barring a draw, No-Contest or any other outcome in which a winner is not produced – fills a vacancy left behind by Terence Crawford, whose stay as lineal champ was brief, scoring a decision over Raymundo Beltran in Nov. ’14, before moving up in weight early last year.
Prior to Crawford’s reign, the lightweight crown was on ice since 2010. Juan Manuel Marquez didn’t formally abandon the lightweight division until 2012, but hadn’t fought at the weight since his Nov. ’10 thriller with Michael Katsidis, climbing off the canvas to stop the Aussie slugger in nine rounds.
The bout was typical of Marquez’ run, which was highlighted by his first bout with Juan Diaz which earned 2009 Fight of the Year honors.
Similar action could be expected in this upcoming clash – though the manner in which came about is a bit of a surprise given the sport’s politics.
Linares (40-3, 27KOs) – the all-action star from Venezuela who makes the third defense of his belt – is represented by Teiken Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions. The latter is embroiled in a $300 million lawsuit with adviser Al Haymon, who has Zlaticanin among his stable of more than 200 boxers. Golden Boy and Haymon served as business partners for years before going through a nasty – and costly – divorce in 2014.
Issues still remain between the two, as evidenced by the existing lawsuit. With that, it became unclear as to whether this particular fight would even happen.
A fighter like Linares always has plenty of options, given his fan-friendly style and camera-friendly looks. What he didn’t have, however, was the backing of a major network to allow his team to secure the rights to the fight.
Because Linares is a prideful boxer who would never dream of ducking a challenge, Golden Boy Promotions – without the benefit of HBO’s financial backing – was given little choice but to entertain whatever offer was made, or else run the risk of taking a chance at an ordered purse bid hearing. It not only meant going up against whatever promoter Haymon would assign to the purse bid (in this case Lou DiBella), but having to do business with one of his clients prior to that point.
In a rare win for boxing, the process proved surprisingly painless. Talks extended until the final day of the deadline, but a deal was reached between DiBella Entertainment and Golden Boy. In acting like grown-ups, they managed to avoid a purse bid, which lately seems to be the only way to secure rights to a fight between two sides who all but refuse to see eye to eye.
Sometimes, a damn good fight can convince even the most irrational of boxing personalities (which have become a dime a dozen in today’s market) to put boxing first.
It's a concept that Golden Boy has understood at least since its massive internal restructuring more than a year ago. Upon assuming full control of the company he founded, Oscar de la Hoya has vowed to present boxing fans with the best fights possible. He continues to hold true to his word and this particular matchup is just the latest example.
“Golden Boy Promotions and Teiken look forward to once again working together in this co-promotion,” noted Golden Boy spokesman Stefan Friedman, who otherwise declined to expand on the dynamic of the partnership for the event, given the other side's noted affiliation with Haymon.
Nevertheless, in putting aside petty difference (and multimillion dollar legal matters), fans can finally look forward to a stateside main event that doesn’t come across at first glance as a blatant mismatch.
For all of his skills, Linares remains one of boxing’s most beautifully flawed athletes. Rare is the occasion where his fights disappoint, even rarer when he is forced to go the distance in a fight with title implications – 8-3 (7KOs) overall in title fights and sanctioned eliminators, with all three losses ending via stoppage.
His first title win also served as his stateside debut, stopping former 122 lb. king Oscar Larios in ten rounds to claim a vacant featherweight title. Just one defense followed before moving up in weight to win a super featherweight belt, only to lose the crown – and his undefeated record – less than a year later in a stunning 1st round knockout loss to Juan Carlos Salgado.
It took two years for Linares to re-enter the title picture, and was way ahead on the scorecards versus Antonio DeMarco before the Oct. ’11 vacant lightweight title fight turned miserably south in a hurry. DeMarco rallied, bludgeoning and battering Linares into submission.
Four months later, efforts to move back into a mandatory position resulted in a second-consecutive knockout loss, as Linares was stopped in two rounds by Mexico’s Sergio ‘Yeyo’ Thompson. The setback was due to bad luck, suffering a fluke knockdown and an injury that rendered him unable to continue.
Nine straight wins have followed, including his winning the lightweight title on his second try in a 4th round stoppage of Javier Prieto on New Year’s Eve ’14. Two defenses have followed – a come-from-behind stoppage win over Kevin Mitchell in May and a dunker this past October in Venezuela, the lone fight of his career to take place in his birth country.
The only fight with title fight implications to go to the scorecards was a 10-round points win over Nihito Arawaka in March ’14. The bout serves as his lone appearance on a card involving Showtime, appearing on the undercard of a Showtime Pay-Per-View event headlined by Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 10th round stoppage win over Alfredo Angulo.
Likewise, Zlaticanin (21-0, 13KOs) comes in having been seen just once before by Showtime audiences. It came last June, but left a lasting impression in a 4th round stoppage of previously unbeaten Ivan Redkach in a bout that headlined a SHO Extreme lead-in telecast on a night headlined by Deontay Wilder’s homecoming title defense versus Eric Molina in Birmingham, Alabama.
Zlaticanin certainly made his presence felt fighting far away from his Montenegro home. Redkach came in as an unbeaten lightweight and the darling of the up-and-coming talent in DiBella’s stable. A little bit of leverage was gained by Zlaticanin in having previously inked an advisory pact with Haymon – who also represents Redkach – prior to securing the fight.
It was an opportunity he’d earned with a major upset win over former two-division champ Ricky Burns a year prior on the road in Glasgow, Scotland. The win put his name on the map, but proved to be a blessing that became a curse as he struggled to subsequently line up a next-step fight.
With that came the decision to sign with Haymon – considered by many to be the most powerful entity in the sport and whose Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) series had just launched at the time. Zlaticanin has yet to fight on the PBC circuit, but now gets his second straight fight in front of an expanded audience.
“I am coming to the USA again,” Zlaticanin told BoxingScene.com in a limited statement, as he was still gathering information on his upcoming title fight. “My goal is to become World lightweight champion and I’m prepared to break anyone and anything standing in my way.”
Fortunately, his handlers as well as those of Linares opted to not stand in the way of a great action fight. Given what has developed in the sport as of late – becoming better known for the bouts that aren’t materializing along with a litany of mismatches among those are being made – it’s a refreshing change of pace, one that was on everyone’s radar long enough to make sure the right thing was done in the end.
“This is a matchup of two exciting, fan-friendly boxers that promises to deliver explosive toe-to-toe action,” Espinoza notes of Showtime’s desire to secure the rights. “We are working with DiBella Entertainment to finalize the date and we expect to have an announcement very soon.”
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox