By Ian S Palmer
The Staples Center in Los Angeles, California will be the site of a 10-round welterweight clash between veterans Josesito Lopez of Riverside, California and John Molina Jr of Covina, California this Saturday, September 28th. The bout can be seen live in North America on Fox Pay-Per-View while fans in the UK can catch the action on Sky Sports Action. Lopez last fought in January when he dropped a majority decision in at shot at Keith Thurman’s WBA Super World Welterweight Title. Molina’s last action came in February when he lost a 10-round unanimous decision to Omar Figueroa Jr.
Lopez is now 35 years of age and has a mark of 36-8 with 19 Kos to his name. He’s best known for stopping Victor Ortiz back in 2012 and breaking his jaw in the process. Lopez turned pro in 2003 and has 271 rounds under his belt. He’s been stopped three times as Saul Canelo Alvarez stopped him in five rounds in 2012, Marcos Maidana halted him in six in 2013 and Andre Berto took him out in six rounds in 2015. He’s also dropped decisions to Rodrigo Lopez in 2003, Wes Ferguson in 2006, Edgar Santana in 2008 and Jessie Vargas in 2011.
Lopez has taken on a lot of top-grade boxers over the years and along with beating Ortiz he’s also been successful against Adrian Navarrete, Luis Arceo, Tyrone Harris, Anthony Mora, Marvin Cordova Jr, Sergio Rivera, Mike Dallas, Mike Arnaoutis, Aaron Martinez and Saul Corral. Lopez is just over 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 69-inch reach. He’s not known for his power and has a current knockout ratio of 42.2 per cent but he did appear to have Thurman hurt earlier this year.
Lopez is a solid pro with a lot of heart and good skills to go along with his experience. Along the way, Lopez has won the WBC Silver Welterweight, NABF Light Welterweight, WBC Youth World Lightweight, WBC Continental Americas Lightweight, WBC Youth World Super Featherweight, and WBC Intercontinental Mundo Hispano Super Featherweight Titles.
The 36-year-old Molina climbs through the ropes with a mark of 30-8 along with 24 Kos and has struggled lately with seven losses in his last 14 bouts. He has a one-inch height advantage over Lopez he’s just over 5-feet-10-inches tall and has a 71-inch reach, which means he has a two-inch advantage in that department as well. Molina’s a tough guy with plenty of experience and has been in several slugfests.
Molina’s best days are behind him now even though he managed to surprise many fans by beating Ruslan Provodnikov in June, 2016 and stopped Ivan Redkach in four rounds in 2017 after getting up from the canvas. He’s also beaten Mickey Bey, Hank Lundy, Efren Hinojosa and Frankie Archuleta. Molina’s chin isn’t his strongest point as he’s been stopped three times. However, he has faced some elite fighters and taken plenty of solid shots from them while remaining on his feet.
As well as losing to Figueroa the last time out, Molina’s losses have been against Martin Honorio by unanimous decision in 2009, to WBC Lightweight Titleholder Antonio DeMarco by first-round TKO in 2012, to Andrey Klimov by majority decision in 2013, to Lucas Matthysse by 11th-round stoppage in 2014, to Humberto Soto by unanimous decision in 2014, to Adrien Broner by unanimous decision in 2015 and to world champ Terence Crawford by eight-round stoppage in December, 2016.
Molina turned pro in 2006 and has boxed 187 rounds since and his knockout ratio currently stands at 63.2 per cent. He’s got good power but unfortunately his chin isn’t as solid as his fists and that’s what makes him an exciting and fan-friendly fighter. It’s not really in Molina’s nature to utilize his boxing skills as he can easily be drawn into a brawl and that’s why this bout could be a treat for the fans. Molina possesses plenty of heart and if he loses he always goes down swinging.
Prediction…
At 36 years of age and after enduring several brawls during his career it’s hard to say what Molina has left in the tank. Lopez looked quite good against Thurman earlier in the year so seems to still have quite a bit left. If Molina decides to box he’ll likely be surprised by Lopez so he could get into another brawl but Lopez’s power could be a bit underrated. I don’t think Molina can win a decision but a stoppage is possible. Still, I’ll have to go with Lopez due to his last performance against Thurman.
