By Cliff Rold
In what might be the biggest win of his young career, 25-year old Welterweight Carlos Molina (15-4-1, 5 KO), a Mexican based out of Chicago, Illinois controlled 27-year old power punching fellow Mexican Alexis Camacho (17-2, 16 KO) of Austin, Texas over ten rounds at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City. Both men came in slightly above the division limit, Molina one pound over at 148 and Camacho at 147 ¼.
Molina appeared the looser of the two in the first three minute, Camacho tightly moving forward while Molina circled and fired hooks. Camacho fired back with uppercuts and hooks but landed nothing of substance in a tentative opener. The action improved little in the second as each continued on similar paths. Molina did his best work to the body and used his left jab in multiple to keep Camacho on his back foot.
Molina leapt in with a left hook to begin the third and further distanced himself in early class from Camacho. He fired more often and landed more often as well. It was not until the final minute that Camacho began to work his way into the round, landing hard uppercuts and suffering counter hooks from Molina in pursuit of more power opportunities.
A long right from Molina was the first hard blow of the fourth but Camacho, warmed up and relaxed, set to stalking his circling prey. Firing occasional jabs, Camacho’s missing right hands were increasingly followed by left hooks just missing the jaw of Molina. Molina continued to work in and out, throwing two or three shots and stepping back out. Molina closed strong, connecting flush with two lefts to the face and temple of Camacho at the bell.
The pressure of Camacho added a level of drama in the fifth as he appeared to be getting closer. A stiff left jab forced a step back from a Molina who had continued to box effectively at the onset. With thirty seconds left, both men landed hard, Molina with a left hook and Camacho with a responding right.
The tempo of the action picked up in the sixth a bit as Camacho began to fight with the desperation of a fighter who had fallen well behind. Molina was comfortable enough to stay cool, slipping shots and giving up only a defended piece of his right flank. Molina picked up the connect rate in the seventh, landing several lefts and right in the first minute of that round. Camacho’s uppercut was stunted by the gloves of Molina while Molina landed slapping rights to the ribs. In the closing seconds, Molina bulled Camacho along the ropes, trapping him with his shoulder and ripping downstairs.
Camacho came out firing to no landing avail at the bell for the eighth. Over the course of it and the following round though, the nature of the fight never changed except to increase negative result for Camacho. His right eye begin to purple and swell, Camacho even appeared wobbled midway through the ninth as his right uppercut and straight right hand opened up chances for him to come in blind with the left hook. Camacho gamely shot and landed a right hook at the bell but Molina took at and walked to his seat.
With three minutes remaining, the victor looked obvious short of a thunderbolt. Camacho wasn’t finding one as two lefts clapped into his bruised face. The punishment continued through to the end and only official word from the judges stood between Molina and his sixth straight win. He got it by scores of 97-93, 98-92, and 100-90.
The referee was Steve Smoger.
Don’t call him sugar, but feel free to note a sweet performance for “The New” Ray Robinson (10-0, 4 KO) on the televised undercard. The 23-year old Welterweight from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania kept his “0” in the battle of unbeatens, scoring a third round TKO of 20-year old Darnell Jiles, Jr. (8-1-1, 3 KO) of Rochester, New York. Both weighed in five pounds below the division limit at 142.
Both fighters came out jabbing from southpaw stances looking for left hands. The lanky Robinson had slightly more success, cuffing Jiles near the right ear on a couple of occasions. The longer arms of Robinson kept Jiles largely at range but as the first round wore on Jiles began to score with leads to the body.
Thirty seconds in the second round, Robinson landed his best punch to that point with a whipping left, Jiles head snapping back but no ill affect shown. Robinson followed less than a minute later with a lead right hook and straight left upstairs. Jiles attempted to deal with the superior reach by feinting and throwing his own lead rights as Robinson came forward but found more shoulder than target. Both men landed hard hooks in a flurry of action at the bell.
A pair of right hooks started off the third for Robinson, complimented by a left hook and another right. Jiles could find no answers as the leather accumulated and near the one minute mark it got worse. A long left hand struck the chin of Jiles buckling his knees and sending him to the ropes. Robinson kept him there, raining in one left hand after another and the occasional hard left hook. The bell sounded and Jiles had survived.
He would not endure. The Jiles corner halted the bout in the corner before the start of the fourth. While his name will certainly garner attention, Robinson displayed plenty of reasons to keep an eye on him on merit. The referee was Dave Fields.
The televised card was opened with a look at 26-year old Light Heavyweight prospect Yathomas Riley (6-0, 3 KO) of Panama City, Florida. Contested inside the Cruiserweight division made no difference to his undefeated mark as Riley dominated the four round affair against 24-year old Julius Jackson (2-3) of Cincinnati, Ohio. Jackson, 189, was brave, surviving two knockdowns in the first to finish the bout. Riley, 185 ½, captured the decision by unanimous scores of 40-34.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
