Molina Blemishes Lara’s Resume

Many remember 27-year-old Carlos “King” Molina (17-4-2, 5KOs), of Chicago, Illinois, for his two fights against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. several years back when they fought to a draw in 2005, with Julio winning the rematch by majority decision in 2006. After the loss to Chavez Jr., Molina lost two more contest making for three defeats in a row. Following the three-fight slide Molina reeled off nine straight victories with the last occurring in 09′ against Danny Perez by a 12-round unanimous decision win. Returning from a layoff of nearly two years, Carlos Molina inserted himself back into the noteworthy category by dueling undefeated 27-year-old top prospect Erislandy Lara (15-0-1, 10KOs), of Miami, Florida, by way of Cuba, to a hard fought majority draw on ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights.”

Southpaw Erislandy Lara was coming off four straight 1st round finishes and there was little doubt before the fight began that Lara would be the victor last night in the Chelsea Ballroom at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas. The question was, would Molina make it out of the opening three minutes?

Not only did he make it to round 2 in the 10-round main event, Molina seemingly won the first three periods to the surprise of many, especially his foe who didn’t seem ready for action. Carlos was having early success with the left hook to the body as well as his right uppercut, as Lara stalked and Molina scored. Erislandy was producing many jabs in front of his straight left and trying to bait Molina for a left uppercut as he incorporated a methodical waste nothing approach with few results.

Molina wasn’t intimidated by the highly touted amateur sensation and arrived with a packed lunch ready to put in work. Molina, whose fighting style resembles Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz’s, was digging into both sides of Lara’s torso and connecting with his right uppercut. By the 3rd round Carlos stopped moving about the squared circle as much and began pushing forward causing Lara to step backwards and share the center of the ring.

Combinations was the strategy of choice employed by Molina while Lara looked to load up with his left and attack with single shots in search of the good night punch. Lara won the 4th round, becoming more aggressive with hard straight lefts to the nose and mid-section of Molina as well as zeroing in on Carlos’ body with good results.

Trainer Ronnie Shields displayed his frustrations with Lara between rounds and Erislandy responded, making more adjustments and pressuring Molina as the tide changed in the 5th. Lara’s straight left to the mid-section as well as an uppercut to the chest area began to take a toll on Carlos. The Cuban’s jab became more effective as the rounds past but right when Lara was gaining momentum he let up and allowed Molina to come back with a good 6th.

By round 7 doubt began to formalize as to whether Lara would stay undefeated as he was in the middle of a close scrap and behind on the cards as I saw it. Lara connected with a couple lefts upstairs and a right hook to the body early in the 7th round but Carlos snatched the hat off Erislandy and pressured the Cuban as his work rate seem to be enough to win the stanza against a tiring Lara.

Round 8 saw Molina land one of his best blows, a sharp left hook to the jaw line of Lara. The Chicago native also got rough, lunging forward with his head down as he forced multiple clinches with Erislandy. Lara once again made the needed changes and had a good round socking Molina with straight lefts to the head and mid-section as well as nice counter right hooks.

Again Lara looked better than Molina in the 9th as he reached out and touched Carlos with the best punch of the night, a thudding left hand that snapped back the skull of Molina.

Heading into the 10th and final round, the man who won the period would be the victor on my card. Molina was gassed by that point but continued to throw hands, clinch and strive for victory with the little left in his gas tank. By no means did Lara [who was tired too, though possessing the fuller tank] let it all hang out in the final round, but out-landed Molina capturing the last three minutes in a grueling contest.

When the anticipated score cards were announced they read 97-93 Molina and 95-95 twice, resulting in a fair, majority draw, which one might say is a victory for Molina as the upset tie will do much for his career moving forward. Molina showed grit and heart with his blue-collar all work performance which took his tally to 17-4-2 with 5 finishes, as he will look to capitalize on his unlikely fortune with big-named future foe’s.

From an undefeated highly touted fighter who was on the verge of losing, Lara left much to be desired in not putting his foot down, letting his hands fly and striving for greatness. He didn’t go after Molina with a sense of desperation like the situation called for and it cost the Cuban his perfect record, sending him back to Miami with adjustments on his mind as he falls to 15-0-1 with 10 knockouts.

Before the fight there were talks of Erislandy challenging Cornelius “K-9” Bundrage for his IBF junior middleweight strap should he perform well against Molina. Those plans may be put on ice in regards to last nights developments.

In the 10-round jr. middleweight co-feature, 29-year-old undefeated southpaw prospect Yudel “The Surprise” Jhonson (10-0, 7KOs), of Miami, Florida, by way of Cuba, dominated 32-year-old Richard “La Lamina” Gutierrez (26-6-1, 16KOs), of Miami, Florida, by way of Colombia, on his way to a 7th round TKO victory .

From the outset, Yudel was connecting with numerous one-two’s, counter lefts, head snapping jabs and right hooks to the frame of the Colombian who followed Jhonson around the ring trying to attack the body as Yudel easily lit him up. Jhonson displayed crisp power shots early as he used his quicker fist and superior technical skills to easily find Gutierrez. “La Lamina” was cocky on the canvas, taunting his adversary while being socked up with straight left after straight left.

Yudel is a smart safety first counter puncher who likes to get in and get out which didn’t provide the onlookers with shock and awe activity as he slipped Richard right’s then countered with his left. Gutierrez attempted to adjust by switching to southpaw in the middle rounds to no avail.

Gutierrez barely threw any strikes in the 5th and the fight got stale as Yudel’s work-rate receded in the 6th round but Jhonson saved the day at the 1:58 mark of round 7 when he clobbered Richard Gutierrez with a counter right hook that had the Colombian floundering on queer-street. Jhonson accosted his wounded prey against the ropes unleashing a barrage of punches with nothing too significant landing but Gutierrez put on his ear-muffs and referee Russell Mora pre-maturely jumped in halting the action to the dismay of Gutierrez and the fans in the house. Nonetheless Gutierrez was dominated throughout by the Cuban Yudel Jhonson and the official time of the stoppage was 1:09 of round 7.

With the TKO win, Yudel “The Surprise” Jhonson improved to 10-0 with 7 kayo’s but surprised no one [in a way that was good or bad] with his performance, as he continues to climb the ranks moving forward.

Yudel’s skills are undeniable. He has great defense, counter punching, footwork and throws crisp powerful blows. Like many of the Cuban fighters of today, Jhonson still fights in a safety first amateur style and if he wants to shine bright he will need to adopt a more fan friendly style on the proving ground.

In a 4-round cruiserweight contest 25-year-old hard hitting prospect Yunier “El Cubano” Dorticos (12-0, 12KOs) of Miami, Florida, by way of Cuba, charged through 32-year-old Colombian Jose Luis Herrera (16-11, 16KOs), en-route to a 2nd round TKO victory.

“El Cubano” sent Herrera to the canvas with a big right hand in the 2nd and when Herrera made it back to his feet Dorticos pounded him with a few more shots until referee Tony Weeks had seen enough, ending the bout at 2:36 of round 2.

Dorticos, who talked smack to Herrera after smacking him around, improves to 12-0 with a 100% knockout rate as he continues grinding towards recognition.