By Miguel Rivera
Three-time world champion Jorge Linares will face a stiff test in interim super lightweight champion Pablo Cesar Cano - as the boxes will collide on January 18 at the Hulu theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, as part of card being distributed by streaming service DAZN.
Linares, 33-years-old, with a record of 45-4 and 28 knockouts, fell short in his attempt to beat Vasiliy Lomachenko in May. The two-time Olympic gold medal winner knocked Linares out in ten rounds, but Linares sent the Ukrainian down to the canvas in the sixth round.
Afterwards, Linares made a decision to move up in weight and he then returned at 140-pounds, and blew away Abner Cotto in three rounds.
In his second fight at super lightweight, Linares will clash with Cano, a Mexican fighter who is 29 years old and holds a professional record of 31-7-1 and 21 knockouts.
Cano is coming off an upset win over unbeaten Kazakh Ruslan Madiev in September in Las Vegas, after suffering two losses in 2017.
"The fight will be at 140 pounds and 12 rounds, I do not know if it's going to be for a title or an eliminator, but as it is I will be ready and I feel convinced that I can beat Linares and then go on to have the fights that we want - fights that are the championship," Caneo told ESPN Deportes.
Against Madiev, Cano looked good and the contest was playing out until a clash of heads created a bad cut on the Mexican's forehead and he could not continue. Thanks to the instant replay on giant screens he was given the victory by way of a technical decision, after the referee initially said that his cut had been caused by a punch.
On that same card on January 18, the return of former world champion Chris Algieri against Daniel Gonzalez is expected, while Demetrius Andrade will make the first defense of the World Boxing Organization middleweight title against Artur Akavov.
