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By Lyle Fitzsimmons - A tumultuous late spring begat a cheery mid-summer in the Great White North.
IBF junior featherweight champion Steve Molitor, who found himself embroiled in a heated triangle of promoter/trainer/fighter dissension in early June, has emerged from the fray unscathed and newly focused on his next order of business in the ring in late August.
The 28-year-old Canadian will risk his slice of the 122-pound pie for the fifth time on Friday, when he faces largely anonymous Argentine export Ceferino Labarda in his big Ontario backyard at Casino Rama - about 100 miles north of Toronto.
"I'm 100 percent where I need to be," said Molitor, who's fought there four times since defeating Michael Hunter to win the vacant title in the U.K. back in November 2006. "My weight's good. My hands feel healthy and everything is where it should be. I feel really good at this point.
"Usually I'm battling a small injury or something else, but that's not the case now."
Molitor took his training camp on the road to Montreal and worked with new trainer Stephan Larouche this time around, a residual effect of the three-way dispute that had him on the brink of leaving promoter Allan Tremblay for a reported $2 million contract with Murad Muhammad. [details]
IBF junior featherweight champion Steve Molitor, who found himself embroiled in a heated triangle of promoter/trainer/fighter dissension in early June, has emerged from the fray unscathed and newly focused on his next order of business in the ring in late August.
The 28-year-old Canadian will risk his slice of the 122-pound pie for the fifth time on Friday, when he faces largely anonymous Argentine export Ceferino Labarda in his big Ontario backyard at Casino Rama - about 100 miles north of Toronto.
"I'm 100 percent where I need to be," said Molitor, who's fought there four times since defeating Michael Hunter to win the vacant title in the U.K. back in November 2006. "My weight's good. My hands feel healthy and everything is where it should be. I feel really good at this point.
"Usually I'm battling a small injury or something else, but that's not the case now."
Molitor took his training camp on the road to Montreal and worked with new trainer Stephan Larouche this time around, a residual effect of the three-way dispute that had him on the brink of leaving promoter Allan Tremblay for a reported $2 million contract with Murad Muhammad. [details]
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