By Ian S Palmer
Carlos Molina of Mexico will be taking on American Cornelius Bundrage on Saturday, October 11 when he attempts to defend his IBF Junior Middleweight Title in Cancun, Mexico. Bundrage is a former IBF Jr. Middleweight champ who’s now 41 years old while this will be Molina’s first time in the ring in more than a year. The bout will be aired by ESPN3 and ESPN Deportes’ Noche de Combates.
The 31-year-old Molina will climb through the ring ropes with a record of 22-5-2 with 6 Kos while Bundrage, who hails from Detroit, Michigan, is 33-5 and has 19 Kos to his name. Molina has a three-inch height advantage at 5-feet-9-inches tall, but Bundrage has a two-inch reach advantage on him with a 72-inch wingspan. And even though Molina’s a full 10 years younger, he’s fought more pro rounds at 215 compared to Bundrage’s 206 rounds. The main reason for this is Molina’s lack of power, meaning most of his bouts have gone the distance so far in his career.
That lack of power hasn’t really hurt Molina though as he’s a skilled and tough boxer who has just five defeats, many of them being controversial, such as a loss and draw to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. He also fought to a debatable majority draw against Erislandy Lara and was disqualified in a bout against James Kirkland a few years ago. His other losses came on decisions to Wayland Willingham, Jonathan Ochoa and Mike Alvarado.
Bundrage has decent power, especially for his size, but his boxing skills aren’t exactly the most fluid. He makes up for it with a bulldog-like determination though. He’s also been beaten by Grady Brewer, and Steve Forbes on points and has been stopped by Joel Julio and Sechew Powell. Molina was actually scheduled to take on Jermall Charlo in March in his first title defence, but he was arrested while in Las Vegas on an outstanding charge. He then served a couple of months in jail and was then deported back to his homeland when released.
Molina captured the title in September of last year when he beat former champion Ishe Smith by a split decision. Bundrage won the same belt back in 2010 when he stopped former champ Cory Spinks in the fifth round. He then defended the belt with a decision over Sechew Powell in a rematch and stopped Spinks again in 2012. Bundrage then lost the crown when Smith beat him by a majority decision last year. Both boxers are somewhat underrated since they’re more workmanlike than glamorous.
Molina’s quite hard to hit and likes to control the distance. He’s got a solid chin and it could be tested by Bundrage, who is a bit of a brawler who typically wears his opponents down. Bundrage has a habit of throwing looping shots though and it’s going to be tough for him to nail Molina solidly on the chin of he doesn’t improve on this. With Molina’s lack of power it’s hard to see him stopping Bundrage, but it’s also hard to envision Bundrage stopping him either, due to his chin and elusiveness. Therefore, there’s a good chance that this bout goes the distance.
Prediction
Molina will try to use his boxing skills, but knows he has to land his share of punches to retain the title. Bundrage has one style which is to bull his way inside and pound away at his opponent. He can be outboxed and he gets frustrated when things aren’t going his way. He’s got enough power to stop Molina, but it would have to be a perfect shot. Look for Molina to frustrate the challenger on his way to a relatively comfortable decision.
