Prior to this weekend, two-division world champion Jorge Linares was considered to be the most underrated world champion in boxing. That distinction, however, might now belong to undefeated Juan Carlos Salgado (21-0-1, 15 KOs), who stopped the highly-touted champion in the first round on Saturday to capture the WBA super featherweight title. The bout lasted only 73 seconds as Salgado dropped Linares twice en route to the victory.
Salgado came out fast firing a crisp jab to the body. Linares was calm, firing his own jab as he looked to close the distance. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a blistering left hook from Salgado floored Linares. Although he got up immediately, Linares still looked badly hurt as he took the standing eight count. Leaving him little time to clear his head, Salgado quickly jumped on Linares in the corner. As he unleashed a flurry of punches, a right hand followed by an uppercut from Salgado would send Linares crashing to the canvas again. Linares struggled to get up, the ref had seen enough and called a halt to the action.
The loss for Linares, the first of his career, comes on the heels of signing a promotional contract with Golden Boy Promotions. The announcement was made with great fanfare by Oscar De La Hoya, who revealed the news on the morning of Septebmer 19th, just prior to Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeating Golden Boy fighter Juan Manuel Marquez. "Anyone who has seen Jorge Linares fight knows that he is one of the best fighters in the world, pound-for-pound," said De La Hoya, "too many people here in the Untied States haven't seen him fight, but we're going to change that and Jorge will finally get the attention and the big fights he deserves."
After his Golden Boy debut, Linares certainly is getting more attention, but it's not exactly the type he wants. Like Victor Ortiz before him, Linares will now have to go back to the drawing board as he looks to rebound and get his career back on track to match the hype he received prior to the loss.
[ Follow Ben Thompson on Twitter @fighthype ]