In a battle for the vacant WBA Fedelatin lightweight title, Rocky Juarez came up short as Jorge Linares pulverized him with the jab and uppercut en route to a unanimous ten-round decision. Linares (29-1) was just too sharp and fast for Juarez (28-7-1) throughout the duration of the fight.

Anytime Juarez tried to close the distance, Linares negated his forward progress with a stiff jab. If Juarez managed his way inside, Linares made him eat his powerful uppercut.

Even though Linares sent Juarez down in the 5th round courtesy of a picture perfect left uppercut, Juarez continued to show the tremendous heart he displayed against top tier fighters such as Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez and Humberto Soto.

Well behind on the cards, Juarez fought a spirited 10th round and did his best to make it competitive. But in the end, Juarez couldn’t muster up enough offense and dropped his 3rd fight in a row and will likely do some serious thinking about his future. Scores were 99-90 (twice) and 97-92.