By Jim Dower: WBC lightweight champ Jorge Linares (40-3, 27 KOs) destroyed the ridiculously over-matched #10 WBC fringe contender Ivan Cano (23-7-2, 15 KOs) by a 4th round knockout on Saturday night to retain his World Boxing Council 135lb title at the Poliedro in Caracas, Venezuela.

In the 3rd, Linares put Canlo on the canvas with a hard body shot. Cano barely made it out of the round. In the 4th, Linares backed Cano up with with a hard left to the body. Moments later, Linares dropped Cano with a four-punch combination. The referee didn’t even bother to give Cano a count.

It was an excellent display of body punching by Linares, who proved that he can win with body punching for a change instead of head-hunting like he did in his previous fight against Kevin Mitchell.

Speaking of Mitchell, there’s a chance that we could be seeing a rematch between them in the near future. Mitchell wants the fight, as does his promoter Eddie Hearn. However, they want Linares to come back to the UK for the fight rather than facing him in Venezuela. I’m not sure if Linares will be willing to do that unless he gets a huge money offer.

Mitchell, #3 WBC, isn’t Linares’ mandatory challenger, so there’s no reason for him to begin negotiations with him unless it’s something that he wants to do. If Hearn and Mitchell want the rematch badly enough, they’ll come up with the money that can bring Linares back to the UK for a second fight. If not, then Mitchell will have to settle for trying to get a fight against Linares in Venezuela, which is place that he’s not interested in going.

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In early action tonight on the Jorge Linares vs. Ivano Cano card, Undefeated #10 WBA 160lb contender Alfonso Blanco (12-0, 5 KOs) defeated Sergey Khomitsky (30-12-3, 13 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision.

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The big 6’7″, 300lb #7 WBA heavyweight contender Alexander Ustinov (26-20-3, 11 KOs) defeated journeyman Maurice Harris (26-20-3, 11 KOs) by a 1st round knockout.

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Undefeated light flyweight prospect Carlos Canizales (10-0, 9 KOs) defeated #4 WBA Robert Barrera (12-1, 7 KOs) by an 11 round split decision.

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Unbeaten super featherweight prospect Roger Gutierrez (8-0-1, 6 KOs) stopped Luis Nino (5-3, 4 KOs) in the 2nd round.

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Light heavyweight Maxim Vlasov (31-2, 15 kOs) defeated Gumyr Perdomo (22-6, 15 KOs) by a 6 round unanimous decision.

In other boxing results on the card:

Mayerlin Rivas UD 10 Galina Koleva Ivanova