Jorge Linares Retires at Age 38, After Losing Fourth Consecutive Comeback Attempt
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Caracas, Venezuela (October 26th, 2023)– A Venezuelan fighting out of Japan, veteran Jorge Linares, an Edwin Valero stablemate who fought in the ring as a professional for 21 years, has retired for good at age 28 after losing to Jack Catterall. Linares, age 38, 47-9 with 29 knockouts, Tokyo, Japan, held the WBC World Featherweight, WBA World Super Featherweight, WBC and WBA World Lightweight titles during his career.
Linares, though, had a history of getting diffused in nontitle bouts by heavy hitters. Sergio Thompson, stopped Linares in the second round, and Pablo Cesar Cano stopped him in the first round. Linares made it into the twelfth round against the likes of Devin Haney and Vasyl Lomachenko but did not win. Linares had significant offensive skills, but his performances could be inconsistent. His 12 round loss to Devin Haney at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas in May 2006 is perhaps his best overall performance.
Between 2021 and 2023, four consecutive losses to Haney, Zaur Abdullaev, Zhora Hamazareyan, and Jack Catterall convinced Linares to hang his gloves up for good. The 12 round loss to Catterall at Echo Arena in Liverpool last weekend, was an unsuccessful attempt by Linares to win the WBA Inter-Continental Super Lightweight title from Catterall. The 140 pounds super lightweight division was a division in which Linares did not enjoy the sort of success he had in the lower divisions. Against Catterall, Linares survived but won only a round or two on the scorecards of the three judges. It was time. His stablemate, the late Venezuelan southpaw world champion Edwin Valero, went 27-0 between 2002 and 2010, and held the WBA Super Featherweight and WBA Lightweight world titles.
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