Boxing In Panama: Linares Steps Up In Weight, Wins WBA Title

WBA Featherweight Champion Jorge Linares, 26-0 (17), outgrew the 126 pound division but promptly moved right up to super feather last night and won the vacant WBA title by stopping local man Whyber Garcia, 20-6 (14), in the fifth round at Centro De Convenciones Atlapa in Panama City, Panama.

At just 23 years of age, Tokyo based Venezuelan Linares showed why he is one of the best lighter weight fighters in the world by putting on a scorching performance, stopping his fifth straight opponent early.

Panama City’s Luis Concepcion, 15-1 (11), kept hold of his WBA Fedelatin Flyweight title with a first round KO of Venezuela’s former two-time WBA Minimumweight Champ, Noel Arambulet, 23-8-1 (11), who had only been stopped previously on one occasion.

Ex-WBA Featherweight title challenger Roinet Caballero, 25-8-1 (18), won his third in a row by stopping Colombian veteran Arcelio Ibarra, 12-11 (8), in the third round.

Venezuelan welterweight prospect Pablo Vasquez, 16-0 (16), added another stoppage to his resume by knocking out Colombia’s Mauricio Julio, 14-11-1 (6), in the fifth frame.