Jorge Linares was a teenage prodigy in his native Venezuela. He caught the eye of Akihiko Honda of Teikken Promotions and moved to Japan, where he turned professional at 17.

The precocious talent notched 23 straight wins. At just 21, he scored a hugely impressive stoppage over vastly more experienced Oscar Larios (TKO 10) to claim the vacant WBC featherweight title. He made one defense before jumping to junior lightweight where he annexed the WBA crown.

However, he lost his title when he was shockingly stopped by Juan Carlos Salgado (TKO 1). Further defeats followed against Antonio DeMarco (TKO 11) for the vacant WBC lightweight title and Sergio Thompson (TKO 2) in a WBC eliminator, which led some to believe Linares didn't have the heart to battle through adversity.

To his immense credit, he worked his way back up the ranks and won a WBC lightweight eliminator and eventually the vacant title against Javier Prieto (TKO 4).

In his first defense, Linares (38-3, 25 knockouts) met Kevin Mitchell (39-2, 29 KOs), who had won British and Commonwealth titles, but had come up short in twice in his own world title attempts against Michael Katsidis (TKO 3) and Ricky Burns (TKO 4).

"I was in camp in Las Vegas and did 6-8 weeks with Ismael Salas," Linares told The Ring with the help of Roberto Diaz. "I don't remember sparring partners by name but I did get orthodox and southpaws because I knew Kevin Mitchell switches a lot."

The Venezuelan flew business class direct from Las Vegas into London and arrived in the English capital a week before the fight.

Whilst in London, Linares remained focused on the task in hand and didn't stray far from the hotel.

"No sightseeing per se but I did walk around every day outside the hotel for around 30 minutes just to get out of the room," he said. "Normally it was after the meal, just to walk it off."

Although Linares was well travelled having fought in Japan, Venezuela, Panama, America, Argentina, South Korea and Mexico this was his first fight in the U.K.

"Everything was smooth on behalf of the promotion and fans, there was a lot of respect," he said. "That surprised me a little bit."

The challenger weighed 134¼. However, Linares initially tipped the scale 4oz over the 135-pound division limit.

"Coming in a little overweight at the weight in, was a miscalculation," he admitted before weighing 134. "We thought that by the time the weigh in would start, I would have lost the weight, but I was a little over.

"I went into the dressing room they gave us and jumped rope for about 30 minutes and easily made the weight."

On fight night, Linares arrived at the venue a little under three hours before the fight.

"Everything was as usual," he recalled. "I did the normal, stretching, jump rope, warm up and then bandage.

"The ring walk was a little tense. I couldn't even hear my walk out music, it was so loud. I knew going in I wasn't the [hometown] favorite, Mitchell was the favorite, but I didn't quite expect it to be that loud. It was my first time that people weren't cheering 'Linares' and if they were I couldn't hear it because I was getting booed.

"I remember my walkout song was Michael Jackson, 'Beat it.' They didn't play it; they changed the song on me. I thought 'Huh, why would they put that song on.' I don't remember what song it was. You couldn't hear it [properly.]

"I felt a lot of pressure. After that bell rang and I started to get into the fight that all changed."

Mitchell started better and though Linares landed some good punches of his own. The defending champion cut a frustrated figure by the end of Round 3 and had to rely on bursts and little pockets of success against the Brit.

The fight took a turn just 30-seconds into the fifth round when the bloodied champion touched down from a two-punch combination that was greeted by a cacophony of noise from the home crowd.

"I got caught, it surprised me, but the first thing that went through my mind was my unborn daughter, 'Chloe, Chloe, Chloe.' That motivated me to get up and fight," said Linares, who had to dig deep and hold off the Mitchell onslaught. "Also, Salas, the conditioning, the work we had put in the gym. I wasn't hurt as much as just caught and surprised. I attribute getting up to the hard work we had put in."

Linares long-time confidant, Roberto Diaz admits he feared the worst.

"Once he went down, it was like, 'Wow, we lost,'" admitted Diaz. "Every time he went down it was a loss."

Linares gutted it out and fought on and had Mitchell hurt in the later stages of Round 8. Both fighters were marked up, notably Mitchell's left eye which had swollen grotesquely.

There was light at the end of the tunnel and 'El Nino De Oro' had to use all his guile, experience and cunning.

"In the eighth and ninth rounds, I saw Mitchell was hurt and batted and getting wear and tear on him," he said. "That motivated me to seek for the knockout going into the 10th round because I was afraid of a bad decision. Also, Salas in those rounds would always encourage and motivate and push me to go and finish the fight."

Linares seized him moment, hurting Mitchell a minute into the 10th round, with a big right hand that sent Mitchell reeling backwards and followed with a volley of punches. The weary challenger tried to respond but it proved to be his final stand. The fresher Linares hurt him again with a right and was able to finally drop the bloodied and battered Mitchell with 30 seconds to go in the round. Referee Victor Loughlin had seen enough and waved the contest off at 2:57 of the round.

"I was very, very proud of him because it took that taboo out from under him," said Diaz.

At the conclusion of the fight, Mitchell was ahead 88-82, 86-84, while the other judge had the fight even at 85-85.

Diaz made his way into the ring to deliver some news that would put everything into perspective.

"After the fight, that's when he found out about his daughter being born," said Diaz. "The whole team knew that the wife was in labor, but I told them not to tell him, so he wouldn't worry and concentrate on the fight.

"When the fight was over and he's declared the winner, I go into the ring with FaceTime, and he meets his daughter for the very first time and sees his wife. Something that obviously brought a lot of emotion to him at that moment."

The next day, Linares flew back to Las Vegas to see him wife and newborn baby.

"It was a very smooth birth, and my wife went home the very next day and that's when I met my daughter for the first time," he said proudly "It's funny because I have pictures where the baby is there and I'm all beat up and bruised from the fight. It was very special and it's something I cherish."

Linares would defend his title back in Venezuela before being stripped of his WBC title. He won the vacant Ring championship and WBA title against Anthony Crolla (UD 12). He repeated it in a rematch and made defenses against Luke Campbell (SD 12) and Mercito Gesta (UD 12) before losing to Vasiliy Lomachenko (TKO 10). He fought on and gave good workouts to the likes of Devin Haney (L UD 12) in an attempt to regain his old WBC title and Jack Catterall (L UD 12) at junior welterweight, after which he retired.

Mitchell fought just once more and was stopped in five rounds by Ismael Barroso for the vacant WBA Interim title.

Diaz recognizes Linares achievements during his impressive career that saw him become a three-weight world champion in a 20-year career.

"With Jorge there was so much talent in the ring, and I think at time we didn't see the best Jorge," said Diaz. "It was a lot to with him fighting some of the best fighters out there and you win some, lose some but he never shied away from an opportunity."