Linares set to campaign at 140lbs

Former three-division world champion Jorge “El Niño de Oro” Linares (44-4, 27 KOs) hosted a media workout at Westside Boxing Club Tuesday ahead of his 12-round bout against Abner “Pin” Cotto (23-3, 12 KOs) in the main event of the Sept. 29 edition of Golden Boy Fight Night on Facebook Watch at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, Calif.

Jorge Linares: “I’ve prepared very well for this fight. I’m training with Jorge Zerpa for this fight. He isn’t a new trainer. In fact, we were together 11 years ago when I fought for my first world title against Oscar “El Chololo” Larios in Las Vegas.“We’re working on a lot of things, but mostly we’ve been reviewing and going back to an old school style of training. I’m not changing my style, just adding some things.

“I had been thinking about moving to 140 pounds for some time. When the opportunity to fight Lomachenko came, I took the fight at 135 pounds even though it was already difficult to do so. If I were to get the opportunity to fight him again, I would drop to 135 pounds, but for now I’ll look for more opportunities at 140 pounds.

“A fight with Mikey Garcia or Jose Ramirez would be excellent, but I need to get stay focused on the opponent in front of me. I know Abner Cotto is tough. He knows how to fight on the inside and the outside. I know he will work hard to give a great fight this Saturday.””