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Coming into March, John
Molina believed he would be facing Adrien Broner on the Floyd Mayweather-Marcos
Maidana undercard, May 3rd in Las Vegas. It turns out Broner's team
didn't want to face such a heavy-handed banger and decided to take on the much
lighter punching Carlos Molina. Instead, John Molina challenges Lucas Matthysse
this weekend at the StubHub Center in Carson, California as part of Showtime's
tripleheader (9:30 pm, ET).
“I honestly thought I was
[getting Broner] because from my understanding, it was all good on both sides
and then all of a sudden, it didn't happen,” said Molina earlier this week to
Maxboxing. “So I said, ‘Eh, I guess they had the wrong Molina at hand.’”
But facing “The Machine,”
who, like Broner, is coming off a loss, isn't a bad replacement.
“When they came back with
Matthysse, I said, ‘Hey, this is not what I wanted but Lucas Matthysse, I like
the fight better as far as styles go.’ I wouldn't say it's a consolation prize
because Matthysse...it's not a bad second; let's say that.” The bottom line is
the 31-year-old from Covina won’t have to go looking around for Matthysse once
the bell rings. “I would think so. This is a ‘styles make fights’ kind of
fight. He's a notorious slow starter. He's not the most technically sound guy.
I'm not going to say he's technically deficient but he's not the most
technically sound guy and he's a normal guy that's very heavy-handed.”
But Molina admits, “I'm not
a very good technician either. I'm not going to go out there and try to be
Floyd Mayweather but I'm very heavy-handed as well. So it's going to be whose
will is going to be stronger that night.”
Yes, Molina is a sizable (to
say the least) underdog but he has the proverbial puncher’s chance. Oftentimes,
that phrase is a euphemism for “gotta get lucky” but Molina is a legitimate
puncher who can turn around a fight in a split second - ask Mickey Bey. His
power allows him to beat guys perhaps more talented such as Hank Lundy. And his
inexperience and fundamental shortcomings also get him into situations like the
one against Antonio DeMarco in which he was halted in less than a minute. It's
a result that left Molina more embarrassed than hurt.
“Oh, of course,” he says of
that night in September of 2012. “Throughout the whole thing in my career,
yeah, it's an embarrassment. Like I said, as fighters, we're not afraid of
fighting. Fighting is what we do. I'm more afraid of the embarrassment than
going out there and having a man out-bend or beat me. That's the biggest
concern; believe it or not. But the DeMarco fight, again, I've often said I've
learned on the job and it was an experience where I put a notch on the belt.”
That evening in Oakland, in
front of an HBO audience, Molina was stunned early by a left hand from DeMarco
and then was basically sitting on the bottom rope with his hands up, deflecting
a volley of punches from DeMarco - none of which really hurt him - before
referee Jack Reiss stopped the fight abruptly.
“I believe that it was me
thinking that I knew too much as far as sometimes overthinking,” Molina states
in recalling those events. “The California rules state that if your body is
being held up by any part of the ropes, it's considered a knockdown. I thought
that was enough to get Jack Reiss to step in and give an eight-count. But as of
right now, that's water under the bridge. It's a learning experience; it wasn't
a matter of panic because I wasn't hurt at all. The initial punch, that did wobble my legs. It wasn't a matter
of me getting knocked out or hurt. As you can see, right after they called the bout
off, I was there thinking, ‘Why did you guys do that?’
“I thought they were
breaking us to give us an eight-count because I got knocked down. But again,
it's a learning experience and I've learned on the job. I'm a better fighter
for it.”
If there is a fight that
holds any real intrigue tonight, it's probably this one. Matthysse is coming
off a fight in which he not only lost (to Danny Garcia) but also suffered a
hairline fracture in his cheekbone and had talked of retirement. Who knows where
his heart and head are? As for Molina, well, he might be best served by
throwing caution to the wind as soon as possible and letting his fists fly.
“I think so,” he agreed,
“We’ll let [Matthysse] know that he’s in a fight. The thought process out there
is that I'm the smaller guy coming into this fight, which is completely absurd
in my opinion. Yes, he's fought at the higher weight longer than I have but
it's been a miracle that I've been able to make 135 as long as I have.
Stature-wise, I'm the physically bigger guy. It'll show at our press conference
and our weigh-in.” And for the record, Molina's claims were substantiated; he
did look like the bigger boxer as the two squared off. “Now, I'm not saying
stature wins fights but I like my advantages,” he stated with confidence.
Matthysse-Molina figures to
be a fun and explosive fight one way or the other.
“I believe this fight is the fight to watch that night with all
due respect to the other guys on the card,” says Molina. “But I believe the
most intriguing fight of the night is going to be myself and Lucas Matthysse
and given the fact I am a heavy underdog in this fight, when have I ever been
the favorite? So to me, it's not unfamiliar; I know where I'm at. I know what I
gotta do to become victorious. It's a given I'm not going to have to go find
this guy because he's going to be right there for me.”
SOG
Andre Ward had a message for
his fans on his website:
Uh, OK, but isn't asking
your promoter - who you are trying to leave - to set up your next fight like telling
your wife with whom you are in divorce proceedings to plan your summer
vacation?
TNR
Here's the latest episode of
“The Next Round” with Gabe Montoya and Yours Truly:
WEEKEND FLURRIES
Antonio Orozco will not fight on this
card in Carson as scheduled because Martin Honorio had visa issues. Orozco will
now perform on May 15th in Del Mar on Fox Sports 1.....The Showtime
Extreme telecast will now feature Terrell Gausha and Jermall Charlo in separate
bouts. Per a Showtime release: “JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHTS - 10 ROUNDS, Jermall
Charlo, Houston, TX, 17-0 (13 KOs) vs. Hector Muñoz, Albuquerque, NM,
22-12-1 (14 KOs), SUPER WELTERWEIGHTS – 8
ROUNDS
Terrell Gausha, Cleveland, OH, 8-0 (5 KOs) vs. Charles
Whittaker, Miami, Fla., 40-14-2 (24 KOs).” The fights before the fights will kick off at 7
p.m., ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast)...Episode two of “All Access:
Mayweather-Maidana” will premiere tonight at 9 p.m., ET before “Showtime
Championship Boxing”...Josesito Lopez looked good in stopping Aaron Martinez...Thomas
Williams-Enrique Ornelas was a televised execution...What's gotten into Shannon
Briggs recently?...So even with the 60/40 split in favor of Vasyl Lomachenko,
Gary Russell Jr. is still on board; right?...
I can be reached
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