Lomachenko vs Linares Odds – This Saturday night on ESPN Vasyl Lomachenko goes for a third world title as he faces WBA lightweight champion Jorge Linares.
Anyone who has followed boxing in the last two years has noticed the rise Ukranian Vasyl Lomachenko (10-1). the two time Olympic gold medalist turned pro on a mission to fast track his way to the top. With close to 400 amateur fights, he was not going to spend a few years fighting four and six round bouts. He suffered a setback in his second pro fight when he ran into the tough Orlando Salido but he has been as close to flawless as any fighter in the last decade. He has won world titles at featherweight and super featherweight and this fight makes his first appearance at lightweight.
Linares (44-3) is going to represent his toughest test to date. The line sees Lomachenko a massive favorite, but Linares is the one who holds the WBA world title at 135 pounds heading into this one. Linares hails from Venezuela but he has lived in Tokyo, London and Las Vegas at different times in his career. His recent history includes going 4-0 in world title fights in England where he picked up wins over Luke Campbell, Kevin Mitchell and Anthony Crolla (twice). Linares has good pop in his fists and he knows how to manage and win a twelve round fight.
But Lomachenko has been embarrassing opponents, even elite ones. He has simply worn out the likes of Jason Sosa, Roman Martinez, Nicholas Walters and Guillermo Rigondeaux,all men who had won world titles. Lomachenko has forced his way onto the top ten pound for pound lists despite having less than a dozen pro fights.
Linares is going to be a little bit bigger and longer in this one and at 32 years old he is stll considered to be in his prime. The problem for the stylish Linares is that the Salido blueprint calls for roughing up Lomachenko and Linares is more suited to setting up his lethal counterpunches. If Linares cannot work the body throughout the fight and slow Lomachenko down, he is susceptible to a late stoppage as Lomachenko has shown himself to be lethal when you let him set the pace. Once Lomachenko starts to find a rythm in his fights he uses his dynamic angles and hyper motion to befuddle his opponents. If he is able to do that to Linares, it will mark another tier to the levels Loma has shown.
Top Rank and ESPN are ready to push Lomachenko as the top fighter in the world. TR head honcho Bob Arum recognized what he had in Lomachenko early on and he has featured him on cable sports giant ESPN already on several occasions.
A win by either man will set up a showdown with the WBC’s lightweight champion Mikey Garcia. Garcia is 38-0 and he has already moved up to 140 pounds and won a world championship. Garcia never gave up the 135 lb WBC trinket however and his resume ranks him among the top ten pound for pound fighters in the world as well.
Lomachenko vs Linares Odds – Madison Square Garden – New York, New York – ESPN
Lightweight 12 rounds –
Jorge Linares +900
Vasyl Lomachenko -1375
Featherweight 8 rounds –
Ibon Larrinaga +2750
Michael Conlan -9250
Lomachenko vs Linares Odds / Check out more boxing news and features at The Sweet Science.
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