It was always going to be a tough task for Luke Campbell, taking on Jorge Linares the reigning WBA lightweight title.
But across the pond, in Inglewood, California, the Hull fighter came so close to doing jus tthat.
Before the fight started, Campbell had claimed he was going to pull-off an upset and he so nearly did.
Although the 2012 London Olympic gold medallist was knocked down in the second round, he climbed to his feet and gave Linares all sorts of trouble.
When it came to the score-cards being announced it was declared as a split decision, with the thee judges scoring it as follows:
? 115 ? 112 (in favour of Linares)
? 115 ? 113 (in favour of Campbell)
? 114 ? 113 (in favour of Linares)
After the fight, a disappointed Campbell had this to say to the media,
?He’s a great champion but I thought I outclassed him.
‘No-one can ever doubt my heart. I got off to a rocky start, he hit me with a nice clean shot in the second round, caught me on the eye and cut it. I wasn’t dazed or anything like that, just a nice shot that put me on my back.
‘From then I had double-vision in one eye for the rest of the fight.
‘I thought I won the fight. I didn’t think he was landing any shots whatsoever and I was catching him with all the clean shots.’
Campbell may have not gotten the decision against Linares but his display has announced his presence on the world stage and we?re sure he?ll get another world title shot down the line.
Campbell Loses Split Decision to Linares
