Lightweight titlist Jorge Linares will finally get the kind of fight he's always wanted, a title defense in his home country of Venezuela. After spending much of his career fighting in Japan, Linares hasn't had a fight in Venezuela since 2010.
In this title defense, the smooth operator in Linares (39-3, 26 KOs) will be taking on Mexico's Ivan Cano (23-6-2, 15 KOs) in a scheduled 12-rounder on October 18th. This is really more of a "look good" fight for Linares, who will be facing the 37th rated lightweight according to BoxRec. Cano is most recently coming off a unanimous decision win over John Carlo Aparicio in February, and two draws with Javier Prieto before that. The most notable name on his resume is an 11th round TKO loss to Dierry Jean in 2012.
Linares, on the other hand, seems to have gotten his swagger back, reeling off eight consecutive victories (six by KO) since his last loss against Sergio Thompson, also in 2012. He looks to keep his momentum rolling.