Lomachenko overcomes Linares in an epic.

Vasily Lomachenko continued in his quest to stake his claim as the pound for pound governor on Saturday night when he stopped WBA lightweight champion Jorge Linares in the tenth round of a highly entertaining fight at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Lomachenko (11-1, 9 KOs) notched up the win as many predicted, but was forced to go above and beyond in a competitive duel, climbing off the floor from a sixth-round flash knockdown and surviving some gut check moments late in the bout before demoralising the physically imposing Linares.
Jorge (44-4, 27 KO’s), cruising on a 13 fight, 6 year unbeaten run showed immense character throughout the gruelling battle, overcoming huge hurdles and firing back.. Regardless of his competence and class, Linares found himself second best, visibly marked with a broken resolve by the time he was floored by a vicious body shot in the 10th. Although thoroughly defeated Jorge attempted to continue but was saved with 52 seconds remaining in the round.
The scores at the conclusion varied.. 86-84 Lomachenko.. 86-84 Linares, with the final judge scoring the bout even at 85-85.
The scores reflected the back and forth nature of the battle that will go down as possibly the highlight of the years action..
Linares did dictate his own fair share of the early rounds and managed the surprise knockdown, with a straight right hand in the last minute of the sixth, giving Lomachenko the rarest of occasions to climb off the floor. The Ukrainian overcame the glitch and battled back with accurate shots to both head and body, bloodying the champions nose.. Linares persisted to offer resistance into the ninth, connecting with stiff left hooks and fast combinations, keeping Lomachenko occupied.. Lomachenko found the final breakthrough in the tenth, connected with a series of clean uppercuts before dropping Linares with a beautiful left to the body, forcing the stoppage at the 2:08 mark.