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.
