Lomachenko and Linares Hold Open Workout

Vasyl “Hi-Tech” Lomachenko (10-1, 8KO’s) and Jorge “El Nino de Oro” Linares (44-3, 27KO’s) took time for the cameras today at the open media workouts held outside Madison Square Garden at the corner of 33rd street and 8th avenue.

Lomachenko only spent a couple minutes in the ring while sporting his signature tennis ball tied to an elastic head band reaction/timing workout that the fans are familiar with.

Linares took a little more time in the ring but simply warming up for about five minutes and then fielded some questions.

The fight is taking place this Saturday from Madison Square Garden in New York and will be featured on the network giant ESPN to reach a maximum amount of fans and viewing audience.

Lomachenko and Linares Hold Open Workout. Photo: Marcelino Castillo.

The fight is for Linares’ World Boxing Association (WBA) World Lightweight Title that he won back in September of 2016 from Anthony Crolla but also for this very special fight the WBA has created a special “Super Belt” to honor the best fighting the best.

Linares, who is 32 years old, will be entering the fight on a 13-fight winning streak dating all the way back to 2012. During that 13-fight winning streak he had seven knockouts and fought in five different countries.

Lomachenko, who turned 30 this year, went 3-0 last year while making Jason Sosa, Miguel Marriaga, and Guillermo Rigondeaux all quit on their stools – earning him the nickname “No Mas Chenko”.

Both fighters look to be at their physical peaks and that is exactly why this is such an intriguing matchup. Despite some of the bookies heavily favoring Lomachenko, most boxing pundits see it as a much closer fight considering the fact that Lomachenko will be fighting in an entirely new weight class – one at which Linares is very comfortable and appears to be peaking at.

A lot is on the line for this fight, with many boxing pundits and fans having Lomachenko as the best pound for pound fighter in the world. Either he can reinforce that claim with a victory over Linares for a new title in a new weight class or Linares can make a claim as the top pound for pound fighter if he can upset the apple cart and live up to what many thought not too long ago was the best potential in boxing.