Nihito Arakawa vs Jorge Linares Discussion

I know there's a similar thread on General, but I'm going to touch on a lot of other aspects of the fight.

I in no way or form understand why Nihito Arakawa has opened as a 5 to 1 underdog against Linares.

In my opinion Linares has the very most fragile skin in the game at or near the top level, outside of maybe some paper mache skinned no namer.

I firmly believe he is more prone to delibating cuts than even Pablo Cesar Cano, who at least takes a sustained beating (Against Morales, Fernando Angulo, 10 and 9 round stoppages respectively)

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Compare that to Linares who was barely touched up until the last few rounds against Demarco but still become a bloody mess, and who was blitzed into a stoppage in all of two rounds with a badly slashed eyelid against the so-so brawler Sergio Thompson.

Now Arakawa is hardly an elite talent... But he is rough, tough and you'd have to kill the man to stop him from coming forward.

He absorbed as brutal a beating as you will EVER see against Omar Figueroa, and was still smiling after the final bell. Omar however had two broken hands from beating on Arakawa's cast iron dome.

Also, look at Arakawa's fight against Daniel Estrada not too long ago... It was stopped on a 10 round Technical Decision because Estrada's eye was badly cut by a punch, and later his eye was swollen shut by an elbow.

Estrada is a solid fighter, and in my opinion functionally no worse than Linares.

I smell an upset.

Thoughts, observations?

 

So say the bookies.

Also, neither fighter here has game changing power but you don't need it to tear Linares face to shreds.

 

We've seen Linares blitzed and knocked out in one, broken down by a simple straight forward brawler in Demarco, and than not blown out in one but bashed around so badly in two rounds that he was cut badly enough to have the fight stopped, even though he physically could have probably continued.

He's the ultimate world class loser, in my opinion.