“I still don’t believe it. I never imagined it would happen so fast. I dedicate the win to all those people who believed in me, those who knew I would make it one day,” the new WBA super featherweight champion Juan Carlos Salgado stated.
Salgado surprised the boxing world when he stopped Jorge “Golden Boy’ Linares, who was undefeated in 27 professional fights with 18 KOs. Linares was defending his crown for the second time when he was destroyed in the first round of their championship fight in Tokyo, Japan.
“I knew this was my chance. We didn’t expect a KO so fast and we weren’t really looking for the knockout but a tough fight. he was a great champion, considered the best out of the four organizations,” Salgado said candidly. “I thought it was going to be a tough fight since he is fast, explosive, he has it all. He is a good guy, Jorge Linares, we were very motivated and prepared for this fight.”
“I came out to do my fight. The first round I was going to use it to study him. I did throw the punch to try to knock him out but I didn’t think it was going to happen,” Salgado states candidly. “After I landed that punch, I threw another one but he was already on his way down. I was very surprised, he had a dazed look in his eyes.”
Photos by Naoki Fukuda