John Molina Expects An All-Out War With Omar Figueroa

By Francisco Salazar

John Molina just wants to fight and he is not letting five pounds above a contracted weight get in the way.

After a fight against Victor Ortiz fell through in the week leading up to Sept. 30, Molina was not going to wait another four or five months for another opportunity to fight.

In a fight that was contracted at 140 pounds, Molina will face Omar Figueroa in a 10 round welterweight bout tonight at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles (FOX, 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT).

At Friday’s weigh-in, Figueroa weighed almost 145 pounds. When Figueroa realized he was not able to make weight, his camp reached out to Molina and the California State Athletic Commission regarding the weight discrepancy.

While some fighters may have refused to fight, Molina decided to accept the fight. Word is the contract stipulated severe financial penalties if Figueroa was above the contracted weight, which would then be added to Molina’s $200,000 purse.

Molina (30-7, 24 knockouts), who resides in nearby Covina, has not fought since his thrilling knockout victory over Ivan Redkach in December of 2017. He was scheduled to fight Victor Ortiz on Sept. 30, but Ortiz had to withdraw from the fight after bing charged with sexual assault in neighboring Ventura County during the week of the fight.

The 36-year-old Molina is ready for whatever Figueroa brings to the ring tonight.

“I expect a good fight,” said Molina at Thursday’s press conference. “He’s an undefeated fighter and I hope to give the fans a great show and walk away victorious.”

“We’re totally focused on this fight. I just train and everything else is out of the way. I trained hard and I’m going to do my thing as always.”

Molina has the reputation of coming to fight and being in fights that end up ‘Fight of the Year’ contenders. His extraordinary power has also allowed him to win fights by knockout when he is down on the scorecards, including wins over Henry ‘Hank’ Lundy and Mickey Bey.

Even in defeat, including his loss to Lucas Matthysse in 2014, Molina dropped the hard-hitting Argentina twice.

Fight fans have anticipated an action fight and Molina expects nothing less.

“I’ve put everything into this camp, like I’m sure Omar has. That’s what we owe to the fans and it’s going to come to fruition Saturday night.”

“Whenever I fight, it’s going to be exciting. You can say the same thing about Omar. I’m prepared for any version of Omar. Just like any other fight. I can’t wait until Saturday night to get in there and do what’s best.”

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing