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Yesterday it was reported that Demetrius Andrade would defend his WBO middleweight title on Jan. 18 against Artur Akavov, and that Jorge Linares would be part of that card as well.
Tonight, it was announced on DAZN that Linares (45-4, 28 KO) will face veteran Pablo Cesar Cano (31-7-1, 21 KO) on the show.
Linares, 33, lost his lightweight title to Vasiliy Lomachenko earlier this year when he was stopped in the 10th round, but bounced back by moving up to 140 pounds in September for a win over Abner Cotto, stopping Cotto in three.
Cano, 29, is a fairly safe opponent on paper, a guy who always fights hard but has generally lost to his better opponents. He’s naturally bigger than Linares, but that probably won’t be enough to make up for the skill difference between the two.
Former titleholder Chris Algieri is also expected to be part of the card, with an opponent to be named.