By Mark Vester
BoxingScene.com was contacted by Greg Leon, adviser to former champion Carlos Hernandez, to clear the air on the recent comments from Jorge Linares that were printed on BoxingScene. Linares was under the impression Hernandez was going to fight him on a March date in Venezuela. Golden Boy Promotions, the mutual promoter for both fighters, was trying to put it together.
Linares appeared very surprised when Golden Boy told him Hernandez rejected the fight. The reasons given to Linares were money and lack of time to properly train.
"I would love to box against Hernandez. We are at a stage where we both have goals and I agreed to do the fight at 135 pounds because I wanted to history in boxing Venezuela. I must confess that I was surprised to see him reject the offer because of the money and a lack of time to prepare. We are all professionals and we must remain in the gym to be ready when the promoter presents us with a date," Linares said.
Leon doesn't know what story was presented to Linares, but Team Hernandez turned the fight down as soon as it was offered.
"In my last discussion with Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker Eric Gomez that took place over two weeks ago, I was informed that our potential April 3 fight with Dmitriy Salita at 143 pounds was a no go. Gomez then offered up a fight with Jorge Linares in Venezuela in March. I immediately turned the bout down and made it crystal clear that they should find us another fight," Leon told BoxingScene.com
"A week or so later, in an attempt to undermine my decision, Golden Boy's other matchmaker Robert Diaz, contacted Carlos' wife Veronica to offer more money to fight Linares. Diaz also found it necessary to inform Mrs. Hernandez that she had the authority to accept the offer regardless of what I said. Team Hernandez feels bad for Jorge Linares if he was lied to, under the impression or lead to believe that we ever seriously considered this fight."
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