By Elisinio Castillo

Former champion Jorge Linares (35-3, 23KOs) expects a very tough fight when he faces Nihoto Arakawa (24-3-1, 16KOs) on March 8th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Arakawa returns from a  twelve round decision loss in a "Fight of The Year" candidate with WBC lightweight champion Omar Figueroa.

Linares, who won two in a row since suffering back to back defeats, is training is Las Vegas with coach Ismael Salas.

"I arrived last Tuesday and the work here is always strong. I climb the mountains and the work in this environment helps me to get better results. I already had studied Arakawa previously, but when I got here and met with Salas he gave me many recommendations. The Japanese fighter is a very tough opponent. He takes everything thrown at him and I have to be prepared better than him. The most important thing will be my physical condition to maintain [my stamina] throughout the fight and [and remain strong]. I still don't have the list of sparring partners, but we are  going to work with a 160-pound left-hander, who does not have the style of Arakawa but he will requires me [to use a lot of my] boxing and that will be a great help for my work," Linares told Centro Deportes.