At the moment junior middleweight contender Carlos Molina is making the most out of the precious opportunities coming his way.
Inactive since his June 2009 victory over Danny Perez, Molina came into 2011 with a new outlook on his career and has come through resoundingly with a majority draw with unbeaten Cuban Erislandry Lara this past March that many felt Molina deserved to win, a 7th round stoppage of hard-punching Allen Conyers, and most recently a thorough drubbing over former champion Kermit Cintron on July 9th that netted him a 10-round unanimous decision.
In the span of four months we have seen Molina go from an afterthought to now one of the division?s hottest names, with several top promoters angling their charges towards potential matches with the Chicago-based fighter. I happened to run across Molina on the elevator of the Holliday Inn Express in Carson, California a few hours prior to his bout with Cintron and after getting his number I felt it was due time to get in touch with him and share a little bit of his story.
Molina was born in Patzcuaro, Mexico and would end up relocating to Chicago, Illinois around the age of three. He claims to have had fun growing up in the city but admits that he was never really into boxing until he found himself in Wisconsin at the age of seventeen. Less than a year later Molina was competing in an effort to realize his potential.
With only seven amateur fights under his belt, Molina would turn professional on October 23rd, 2003 with a 4th round TKO over James Rice. With his destiny still a mystery, Molina was simply happy to be able to be chasing his dreams at that point.
?It was exciting but it was a learning experience,? Molina reflected. ?It felt good and that?s what I always wanted when I first started boxing, was to one day turn pro.?
Molina would end up losing his fourth fight when Phoenix?s Jonothan Ochoa edged him by split-decision in Cicero, Illinois. He would get back on the horse and reel off five straight victories before engaging in two noteworthy bouts with an aspiring Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Their first bout taking place in Monterrey, Mexico, Molina and Chavez would end up duking it out for a draw that many to this day still claim Molina should have won. Just hearing the reaction from Chavez?s hometown crowd affirmed Molina?s belief as to who was the superior fighter on that night.
