By Miguel Rivera

WBA lightweight world champion Jorge "King" Linares revealed to ESPN's A Los Golpes how he can increase his chances of victory on May 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, when he faces two-time Olympic gold medal winner Vasyl Lomachenko.

In a conversation with Jorge Eduardo Sánchez and the legendary Juan Manuel Márquez, the Venezuelan boxer accepted that while Lomachenko has advantages such as speed, he also has advantages such as distance and power, although he confessed that the fight could be defined not only with the fists but with footwork.

The fight was recently finalized to headline an ESPN televised event.

Lomachenko, who is the WBO's super featherweight world champion, is moving in weight - attempting to capture his third divisional belt.

Linares is confident that he will be able to handle anything that comes in his direction from the tough challenger.

"I am in Japan, happy, because at last the opportunity that we have waited for.. for so long, that I dreamed about so much in my career, because after 47 fights and thanks to sacrifice, here comes the reward," said Linares.

"Now we are going to prepare at double or triple the rate, we are going to go against the best pound for pound fighter in Vasyl Lomachenko and, well, everything is ready and armed. Now, we need to do a good preparation. We are eight weeks away from the big fight.

"You can't just create one tactic, you have to be prepared for the three distances of fighting.. the short, medium and long. We do not know how he is going to come out, (Lomachenko) is a smaller fighter than me, he is coming from a division below and he will not have the advantage of reach like I do. Because of the strength I have in my favor, I must be prepared for what has to happen.

"(Vasyl) is a pretty fast fighter, but he does not have the punch that I have. Obviously I will be prepared for the three options, he does not like the short distance. I don't like the mid-range because he is a fast fighter, but I also like the long range, because I am long and I have enough reach. I have to be smart and we have to work by different fighting tactics in each round, because he is a boxer who also changes his strategy in each round, who makes different combinations and also changes his footwork."