Linares: I’ma shut Lomachenko up!

As Jorge Linares looks ahead to defending his WBA lightweight title against Vasyl Lomachenko — a man many believe to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport — he discusses the fight and why Lomachenko is the one who needs to worry. Check out what he had to say through his interpreter.

Linares on what he makes of the ‘NoMaschenko’ moniker:

“I’m not worried about it…He needs to worry about it. I’ma shut him up, plain and simple. I know I have my advantages, I’m the natural lightweight here. He’s coming up [in weight], he needs to get ready. I know what I have to do and I’m gonna train hard…but I’ma shut him up.”

On his thoughts on Lomachenko’s performance against Rigondeaux:

“The best I could tell you is that I fell asleep by the end. I stopped watching it. It wasn’t his fault, they made him look bad because Rigondeaux being a southpaw, complicated, shorter — [Lomachenko] had more advantages than Rigondeaux and he destroyed him.

“Now reverse [that scenario]. Now he’s going up, he’s the smaller guy. Be careful because maybe the same thing happens to him. So this fight is going to be very interesting. He has his advantages just like I have mine, and he has his disadvantages just like I do. But the most important [thing] is that we put on a great performance for the fans and at the end of the night my hand is raised, ‘cause that’s what I want.

“As far as the ‘NoMaschenko’ moniker, hey, I’m the king. Now if I want to maintain the king status I have to work twice as hard than what I’ve done in the past.”