Jorge Linares suffers hand injury, Dejan Zlaticanin fight cancelled

By Boxing News - 02/13/2016 - Comments

mitchell33By Allan Fox: WBC lightweight champion Jorge Linares (40-3, 27 KOs) suffered a broken right hand earlier this week in training camp for his proposed April title defense against unbeaten #1 WBC Dejan Zlaticanin (21-0, 14 KOs). The injury was confirmed by Linares’ promoters at Golden Boy Promotions.

It’s unfortunate the injury occurred because it was a fight that would have been interesting for the U.S audience, as it would have been televised on Showtime Boxing.

It’s unclear what’s going to happen now. It’ll be up to the World Boxing Council to make a decision. Linares could wind up being given the designation of WBC “Champion in Recess,” which is something the WBC likes to do with their injured champions.

According to ESPN. If the WBC goes ahead and strips Linares, then Zlaticanin would fight 39-year-old Italian Emiliano Marsili (32-0-1, 14 KOs) for the vacant WBC lightweight title. It would be one of those situations where Linares would have the opportunity to face the winner of the Zlaticanin-Marsili fight if he chooses after his fractured right hand eventually heals up.

Promoter Lou Dibella has his doubts that Linares, 30, ever wanted the fight with the hard-hitting Zlaticanin in the first place. He thinks that Linares was looking for a way to weasel out of the fight by pulling out. Dibella says they’ll know for sure whether Linares was interested in taking the fight or not when/if he chooses to try and fight Zlaticanin after his hand heals.

“I was told by people on my side of the table this fight wouldn’t happen when we made the deal and now it’s not happening,” promoter Lou DiBella said via ESPN.com. “The whole way everything went down makes me skeptical. But we hope to fight Linares and the proof will be in the pudding. When he is ready to come back will he fight us? We’ll see. If he doesn’t, there you go. This is very disappointing.”

Golden Boy Promotions vice president Eric Gomez says Linares definitely wanted the fight with Zlaticanin. He says that Linares was pushing for the fight and calling and enquiring when it would take place. That obviously isn’t a sign of someone that is trying to avoid it.

“Linares wants the fight,” Gomez said to ESPN.com. “He was fine with the fight. In fact, he kept calling us and asking us ‘When’s the fight?’ We kept leaning on Lou for the date and he kept saying he was working it out with Showtime. Linares was anxious for the fight.”

The Zlaticanin fight would have been the third defense for Linares of his WBC lightweight title, which he won in 2014. He’s defended it previously against Kevin Mitchell and Ivan Cano in knocking both of them out. Linares’ 10th round stoppage win over Mitchell was an exciting fight that saw Mitchell doing well in the first half of the fight. However, after Mitchell suffered a cut over his left eye in the 8th, Linares took over the fight and battered the half-blind Mitchell until the fight was stopped in the 10th.



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