By Ian S Palmer
Carlos Molina of Mexico will be challenging IBF Junior Middleweight Champion Ishe Smith of Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Casino in Smith’s hometown on Saturday September 14. The bout is on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather vs Saul Alvarez showdown and will be broadcast on pay per view by the Showtime Network.
The 30-year-old Molina enters the ring at 21-5-2 with 6 Kos and is on a hot streak at the moment with 13 wins in his last 15 contests. Before going on that run he lost three consecutive bouts from 2009 to 2010 when he was beaten by Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, Mike Alvarado and Wayland Willingham. Alvarado and Chavez beat him by close majority decisions and Willingham took a unanimous decision. He’s never been stopped in his career and has wins over Cory Spinks, Damian Frias, Kermit Cintron, and Danny Perez. He also earned a draw against Chavez in their first meeting.
He’s also looked good against James Kirkland and Erislandy Lara, but was disqualified against the hard-hitting Kirkland and drew against Lara. He’s been in with some of the best boxers of his era and is always competitive. Molina isn’t then most powerful puncher around and he doesn’t have the quickest hands or the best defence either. However he is tough and durable and has a lot of experience against top fighters. His sense of distance is good and so is his timing and he’s a hard guy to beat.
The 35-year-old Smith enters the ring with a 25-5 record along with 11 Kos. Remarkably, he’s the first Las Vegas born boxer to ever win a world championship. He’s good defensively, is accurate with his punches and has decent speed. But like Molina, he lacks power. His key to victory has always been throwing punches in volume and keeping busy every round. It’s important for him to make sure Molina doesn’t get his punches off first and dictate the action.
Smith won the title in his last outing back in February with a majority decision over Cornelius Bundrage. He hasn’t faced the caliber of boxers that Molina has though and overall isn’t as skilled as the challenger Molina. This could be a good action bout, but it may also turn into a bit of a dull affair due to the lack of power that will be in the ring. Smith is slightly better with his boxing skills, but Molina is the more aggressive of the two.
Smith has often come up a little bit short when facing tough opposition with the exception of the Bundrage fight. That could be his moment of glory though and it will be hard to pull another rabbit out of the hat against Molina. Look for Molina to be the aggressor in this fight and to take Smith’s title away by a decision at the end of 12 rounds.
