By Ludo Saenz, notifight.com

LOS ANGELES - Five months after one of the biggest victories of his professional career against Kevin Mitchell, WBC Lightweight World Champion Jorge "El Nino de Oro" Linares will celebrate by fighting in his native Venezuela for the first time in more than five years as he defends his title for the second time against Mexico's Ivan "Macanon" Cano on Saturday, October 10.

 

The 12-round title fight, which will take place at The Poliedro de Caracas, will air on ESPN Deportes on Sunday, October 11 starting at 9:00 p.m. ET on a two-hour tape delay. It will be Linares' first bout in his home country since a 10-round decision victory over Francisco Lorenzo on March 27, 2010.

 

A native of Barinas, 30-year-old Jorge "El Nino de Oro" Linares (39-3, 26 KOs) may one day go down in the history books as Venezuela's greatest boxer ever, but for the moment, he has plenty of gas left in the tank as he looks to defend his lightweight title. A world champion at 126 and 130 pounds, Linares added a third divisional championship belt in 2014 when he knocked out Javier Prieto and won the vacant WBC crown at 135 pounds. In May, he rose from the canvas to score a stirring 10th round TKO of England's Mitchell, and now he expects to turn back the challenge of Cano on October 10.

 

Mexico City's Ivan "Macanon" Cano (23-6-2, 15 KOs) is a tough contender who always shows up to fight, and he is planning on bringing the best version of himself possible to Venezuela as he tries to win his first world title. A former WBC Youth champion, Cano is unbeaten in four fights since 2013, a string that includes wins over Salvador Carreon and John Carlo Aparicio and a pair of draws with Javier Prieto. But his biggest bout yet will be on October 10, and Cano will resolve to bring the title back to Mexico.

Jorge Linares 133.8 vs. Ivan Cano 134.6

Sergey Khomitsky 158.4 vs. Alfonso Blanco 159.8

Alexander Ustinov 285.4 vs. Maurice Harris 238.2