Tweet
Carlos Molina Bitten by Boxing Biz
By: Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
Imagine being junior middleweight Carlos Molina right about now and trying to understand something that often simply makes no sense: the business side of boxing.
First, a little background to understand why Molina has every right to be disgusted.
After sitting idle for almost two years during the prime of his career while working through a nasty promotional dispute with Don King, Molina finally returned with a vengeance in March.
As a big underdog, the 28-year-old Molina fought to a majority draw with Erislandy Lara in an ESPN fight. A draw was a big enough accomplishment for Molina considering how hot Lara was, but many believed Molina had clearly won. The draw looks even better when you consider that in Lara's next fight he faced Paul Williams on HBO in July and was on the wrong end of one of the worst decisions of the year (for which the judges, in an unprecedented move, were suspended by New Jersey officials for their horrible scoring).
Just a month after drawing with Lara, Molina jumped at the chance to fill in on short notice to fight Allen Conyers in another "Friday Night Fights" main event. Molina looked great as he knocked out Conyers in the seventh round.
Those two strong outings led to the biggest opportunity of Molina's career, a fight on Showtime in July against former welterweight titlist Kermit Cintron on the Brandon Rios-Urbano Antillon undercard.
Cintron was the clear favorite, but Molina (19-4-2, 6 KOs) pulled another surprise. He took the listless Cintron apart. Schooled him. Left no doubt. Basically beat him like a drum for a lopsided unanimous decision, 98-92 on all three scorecards. It was Cintron's second consecutive loss. A year earlier, he had fallen -- some say jumped -- out of the ring against Paul Williams and showed no effort to continue in what became a fourth-round technical decision loss.
Molina's strong three-fight run following the layoff helped launch him into the 154-pound division's top 10. Nobody handed him the status. He earned it.
In a fair world, Molina would be one of the top candidates to land a title shot, based on his recent résumé. At the very least, he would rank ahead of Cintron, who came off the loss to Molina to record a lackluster decision against Antwone Smith in a forgettable August fight.
Yet instead of Molina getting the call for a title shot, incredibly it is the wholly undeserving Cintron who will lace 'em up for a shot at titleholder Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in an HBO main event on Nov. 26.
"That sums it up right there, the way boxing is," a dejected Molina said. "I won the fight and they give the shot to the guy I beat. They didn't even offer me the fight. Why?"
Leon Margules, who co-promotes Molina with Luis DeCubas Sr., is also ticked off -- and I don't blame him, or Molina.
"I understand that fighters don't want to lose. That's understandable," Margules said. "But what about HBO letting Alvarez take the easier road by fighting a guy my guy just beat? He destroyed Cintron and, despite that, somehow they are putting Cintron in while Carlos' phone doesn't ring. What happened to serving the paying customers by putting on the best fights between the best fighters? Carlos will fight anyone in the world at 154 or 147 pounds."
Margules told me he has let HBO and Showtime know that Molina will literally fight any junior middleweight or welterweight they want him to fight.
With "Friday Night Fights" off the air from August until January and the premium networks booked up with no room at the inn for Molina, he has had no luck securing a fight despite discussions for a whole slew of them that went nowhere.
Margules listed the fights that were discussed but not made.
He said there were "preliminary discussions" with Top Rank's Bob Arum about matching Molina with welterweight contender Mike Jones on the Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito HBO PPV card on Dec. 3, but ultimately that fight went to Sebastian Lujan.
Margules said he had similar talks with Arum about matching Molina with junior middleweight contender Vanes Martirosyan and with co-promoters Artie Pelullo and Gary Shaw about a fight with former junior middleweight titlist Sergiy Dzinziruk.
Margules also said there was a discussion with promoter Dan Goossen about a fight with Williams, but he isn't fighting for the rest of the year. Margules said he also proposed a rematch with Lara to Golden Boy and had a conversation with Showtime about matching Molina with junior middleweight titlist Cornelius "K9" Bundrage on the network's Dec. 31 card, which remains unsettled.
"Carlos was ready to fight anybody," Margules said. "But nobody would fight him. You've got a fighter who comes back from two years off and scores [a huge win and a draw against] two top guys and knocks out another well-thought-of fighter on ESPN in impressive fashion. It's a Cinderella story. Carlos is an exciting fighter who comes forward and throws a lot of punches.
"He outboxes these guys with old-school techniques. So why is he getting stepped over for a shot at Canelo?
"It's not like HBO tried to make the better fight and Carlos wasn't available. His phone never rang. Situations like this are a problem for our sport. It's disgraceful. Maybe with the new regime beginning over at HBO, these kinds of things will no longer happen."
To make ends meet, Molina has taken work as a sparring partner. He helped middleweight Andy Lee prepare for his Oct. 1 victory against Brian Vera.
So while Cintron was at a media conference in Mexico City on Wednesday announcing his six-figure title shot against Alvarez, Molina was left wondering why it wasn't him.
"Hopefully, one of these other guys on top will have what it takes to fight me," he said. "I'll just stay in shape and wait it out."
Life isn't fair. Boxing is even less so.
By: Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
Imagine being junior middleweight Carlos Molina right about now and trying to understand something that often simply makes no sense: the business side of boxing.
First, a little background to understand why Molina has every right to be disgusted.
After sitting idle for almost two years during the prime of his career while working through a nasty promotional dispute with Don King, Molina finally returned with a vengeance in March.
As a big underdog, the 28-year-old Molina fought to a majority draw with Erislandy Lara in an ESPN fight. A draw was a big enough accomplishment for Molina considering how hot Lara was, but many believed Molina had clearly won. The draw looks even better when you consider that in Lara's next fight he faced Paul Williams on HBO in July and was on the wrong end of one of the worst decisions of the year (for which the judges, in an unprecedented move, were suspended by New Jersey officials for their horrible scoring).
Just a month after drawing with Lara, Molina jumped at the chance to fill in on short notice to fight Allen Conyers in another "Friday Night Fights" main event. Molina looked great as he knocked out Conyers in the seventh round.
Those two strong outings led to the biggest opportunity of Molina's career, a fight on Showtime in July against former welterweight titlist Kermit Cintron on the Brandon Rios-Urbano Antillon undercard.
Cintron was the clear favorite, but Molina (19-4-2, 6 KOs) pulled another surprise. He took the listless Cintron apart. Schooled him. Left no doubt. Basically beat him like a drum for a lopsided unanimous decision, 98-92 on all three scorecards. It was Cintron's second consecutive loss. A year earlier, he had fallen -- some say jumped -- out of the ring against Paul Williams and showed no effort to continue in what became a fourth-round technical decision loss.
Molina's strong three-fight run following the layoff helped launch him into the 154-pound division's top 10. Nobody handed him the status. He earned it.
In a fair world, Molina would be one of the top candidates to land a title shot, based on his recent résumé. At the very least, he would rank ahead of Cintron, who came off the loss to Molina to record a lackluster decision against Antwone Smith in a forgettable August fight.
Yet instead of Molina getting the call for a title shot, incredibly it is the wholly undeserving Cintron who will lace 'em up for a shot at titleholder Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in an HBO main event on Nov. 26.
"That sums it up right there, the way boxing is," a dejected Molina said. "I won the fight and they give the shot to the guy I beat. They didn't even offer me the fight. Why?"
Leon Margules, who co-promotes Molina with Luis DeCubas Sr., is also ticked off -- and I don't blame him, or Molina.
"I understand that fighters don't want to lose. That's understandable," Margules said. "But what about HBO letting Alvarez take the easier road by fighting a guy my guy just beat? He destroyed Cintron and, despite that, somehow they are putting Cintron in while Carlos' phone doesn't ring. What happened to serving the paying customers by putting on the best fights between the best fighters? Carlos will fight anyone in the world at 154 or 147 pounds."
Margules told me he has let HBO and Showtime know that Molina will literally fight any junior middleweight or welterweight they want him to fight.
With "Friday Night Fights" off the air from August until January and the premium networks booked up with no room at the inn for Molina, he has had no luck securing a fight despite discussions for a whole slew of them that went nowhere.
Margules listed the fights that were discussed but not made.
He said there were "preliminary discussions" with Top Rank's Bob Arum about matching Molina with welterweight contender Mike Jones on the Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito HBO PPV card on Dec. 3, but ultimately that fight went to Sebastian Lujan.
Margules said he had similar talks with Arum about matching Molina with junior middleweight contender Vanes Martirosyan and with co-promoters Artie Pelullo and Gary Shaw about a fight with former junior middleweight titlist Sergiy Dzinziruk.
Margules also said there was a discussion with promoter Dan Goossen about a fight with Williams, but he isn't fighting for the rest of the year. Margules said he also proposed a rematch with Lara to Golden Boy and had a conversation with Showtime about matching Molina with junior middleweight titlist Cornelius "K9" Bundrage on the network's Dec. 31 card, which remains unsettled.
"Carlos was ready to fight anybody," Margules said. "But nobody would fight him. You've got a fighter who comes back from two years off and scores [a huge win and a draw against] two top guys and knocks out another well-thought-of fighter on ESPN in impressive fashion. It's a Cinderella story. Carlos is an exciting fighter who comes forward and throws a lot of punches.
"He outboxes these guys with old-school techniques. So why is he getting stepped over for a shot at Canelo?
"It's not like HBO tried to make the better fight and Carlos wasn't available. His phone never rang. Situations like this are a problem for our sport. It's disgraceful. Maybe with the new regime beginning over at HBO, these kinds of things will no longer happen."
To make ends meet, Molina has taken work as a sparring partner. He helped middleweight Andy Lee prepare for his Oct. 1 victory against Brian Vera.
So while Cintron was at a media conference in Mexico City on Wednesday announcing his six-figure title shot against Alvarez, Molina was left wondering why it wasn't him.
"Hopefully, one of these other guys on top will have what it takes to fight me," he said. "I'll just stay in shape and wait it out."
Life isn't fair. Boxing is even less so.
Comment