Top Stories

Steve Molitor retires from boxing

By Michele Emrick

Former two-time IBF super bantamweight champ Steve Molitor (34-3, 12 KO’s) has apparently decided to call it quits.  Recently, Molitor has struggled, losing two of his last three contests.  Those defeats came at the hands of Takalani Ndlovu and Carl Frampton.

Molitor said to medicinehatnews.com “I’m more about being a father now. We live quite a bit west of Toronto now, so training full time is not an option.”

Even if there was not the issue with training, he would still have difficulty within the ever improving super bantamweight division.  As it has only become better, Steve Molitor has pretty much stayed the same.

In the 122 pond division, you will find fighters like Guillermo Rigondeaux, Abner Mares, Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. and Vic Darchinyan among others.  It is unlikely that Molitor could compete with those guys at his current level.

Back in 2006, Steve Molitor captured the IBF super bantamweight title when he defeated Michael Hunter.  He was able to defend that title five times until he ran into Celestino Caballero in 2008.  In that fight, he was stopped in the 5th round.  Two years later, he managed to recapture the title when he beat Takalani Ndlovu.

His second title reign was significantly shorter.  After defending it once, he lost a rematch to Takalani Ndlovu by unanimous decision.  He rebounded from that fight with a win, but following that, he ran into Carl Frampton.  That fight took place last September, and Molitor was simply outclassed, losing in six rounds in a very one-sided contest.

Perhaps the only other option for Molitor, if he had chosen to continue, would have been to move down to bantamweight.  It’s not a certainty that he could have made that weight, but at least there, he would have found a division that was not quite as stacked as the one he currently competes in.

 

 

 

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


News

Oquendo: I Deserve This Fight More Than Anybody

“No one deserves the Klitschko fight more than me,” says long-time heavyweight contender Fres Oquendo.

WBA #5 and WBA #12-rated Oquendo (35-7, 23 KOs) can make a strong case for being the next to face WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko on April 6 in Hanover, Germany.

“I’m seeing these newcomer kids talking about how they deserve to fight Klitschko. I haven’t lost a fight legitimately since 2006. In 2003, I had a world-title fight and lost an outrageous robbery against Chris Byrd. Byrd went on to lose the title that I should have won that night to Wladimir. So, if they hadn’t stolen my title from me that night, I would have already had a fight against Wladimir! Me getting the fight against Wladimir is boxing karma making things right.”

39-year-old Oquendo, who began his career in 1997, has won countless regional titles and is still stopping the opponents he’s supposed to stop. He took out capable veterans Robert Hawkins and Joey Abell in his two latest appearances.

“I’m still as sharp as I’ve ever been and I know how to get to Wladimir. I’ve been trying to get him in the ring for years because I see what you need to do to beat him. Plus, if you put my resume next to anybody else’s that they’re talking about it’s like a joke. Nobody else deserves this fight as much as I do. So let’s get it done, call my promoter, Bobby Hitz, so I can start training to go over there and kick his ass.”

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The Latest

To Top