By Mike Coppinger

Carlos Molina informed BoxingScene.com that the purse bid for his mandatory IBF junior middleweight match with Ishe Smith will take place March 25, if no agreement is reached before then.

Molina (21-5-2, 6 KOs) became the mandatory challenger after defeating Cory Spinks in an IBF eliminator last month. Weeks after the fight, Smith (25-5, 11 KOs) defeated Cornelius Bundrage to become the IBF titleholder.

"I heard we should be in a contract pretty soon," Molina said. "If he doesn't fight me he gets stripped and then I fight the next available contener, but I don't think he wants that.

"I'm glad that he won the belt. He's a good boxer, he's good all-around, his defense is sound, his offense is good; he doesn't make too many mistakes. We just gotta pressure him and do what we do to everybody. I'm just looking forward to my chance to win the world title. I'm hungry. I've been playing the championship fight in my mind for a while now, and it's finally here. I feel I know what to do when it's right in front of me because I've played this so many times in my mind."

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