Jorge Luis Linares Palencia (born August 22, 1985), best known as Jorge Linares, is a Venezuelan professional boxer who has held the WBA and Ring magazine lightweight titles since 2016. He is a four-time world champion in three weight classes, having previously held the WBC featherweight title from 2007 to 2008; the WBA super featherweight title from 2008 to 2009; and the WBC lightweight title from 2014 to 2016. As of May 2017, he is ranked as the world’s best lightweight by The Ring and BoxRec, and second by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.
Linares made his professional boxing debut managed by the Teiken Boxing Gym in December 2002. He was trained by Sendai Tanaka there, and Antonio Esparragoza who was trained by Tanaka’s master Amílcar Bursa gave Linares the nickname of El Niño de Oro.