By Enrique Heredero
John-John Molina clasped his hands together as if he were going to pray, looked up and gave thanks to God. His face says all that needs to be said. He is sincere when he says, “If I don’t get a title shot soon, I’m going to retire. I’m fine economically, I have a good job, and I have a great family.”
Molina then clasps his hands together, looks up and says: “Thank God.”
Only a few moments have passed since he knocked out gutsy Cuban fighter Juan Carlos Suarez in 7 rounds. The former IBF Jr. Lightweight champion is going through all the post-fight medical tests and congratulatory motions with his entourage.
When things settle down again, Molina continues: “They say I have a lot left, but what’s the point if I don’t get a title shot? I’d like to fight at 130 and maybe fight for the IBF title. I’ll also fight Gatti or Manfredy.”
Molina felt the Cuban contingent against him during the fight in Miami’s Miccosukee Indian Gaming, but he also felt the love of his fans: “I’m very happy to fight here because I have family here. Even though there were a lot of Cuban fans [rooting against me], I felt happy. Suarez was very good for a fighter with a 16-3 record and a southpaw.”
Two common Molina opponents are planning to fight soon in a superfight. Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley are looking to battle in the summer. Molina is looking for De La Hoya to prevail: “I don’t like making excuses, but I was sick to my stomach prior to the Mosley fight. I wasn’t 100 percent. That combined with Mosley’s body shots did me in. With De La Hoya, I thought I won. Mosley is a great fighter and could win, but De La Hoya is a natural welterweight and hits hard. De La Hoya should win, he should be stronger, and even then it won’t be an easy fight for De La Hoya.”
Who does he think hits harder? “De La Hoya.”
As for the Suarez bout, it wasn’t televised live. Instead, it will be shown on FOX Sports days later. Molina’s family in Puerto Rico has no idea what has happened.
Molina picks up a cell phone to call home and let his wife and son, John Anthony Molina, know that he is alright. He won.
“I love you,” Molina tells his wife, “I won in 8 rounds. Tell John Anthony that the prayer he said for me worked. Tell them all I won.”
Molina pushes the end button on his cell, turns with a face that defines “proud” and says, “They’re my life.”
Sportsmanship is a term not all athletes know. Clearly, Mauricio Pastrana and Jorge Lacierva have a pretty good idea of what it means.
Although Pastrana clearly hurt from experiencing his first loss, he gave Lacierva credit for Lacierva’s upset win.
“The fight was close, so the decision was fine,” Pastrana said. “The judges had to make a decision and they gave it to [Lacierva]. I can’t do anything but go forward.”
Lacierva developed an early lead in the fight. Soon enough, by his own admission, Pastrana and his corner knew that there was a considerable gap that needed to be closed and Pastrana fought accordingly in trying to close it. He came close, but Lacierva was determined. Throughout the fight, Lacierva landed a variety of punches, but his jab proved to be a thorn in Pastrana’s side. It was always there to stop Pastrana in his tracks, but Pastrana was also determined. The resounding determination of each fighter made the fight a very intriguing and competitive one. It could reasonably be called a war, especially after 3 rounds.
In round 9, Pastrana was dropped into the ropes by punches that may have knocked a lesser fighter out, but Pastrana bounced back and no knockdown was called. Pastrana went on to land some combinations, but Lacierva had dominated most of the round.
It was round 12 and most observers felt Pastrana needed something major to win. Despite the difficulty of Lacierva’s punch output, Pastrana fought through Lacierva’s toughness and closed the round in a gritty effort, but it was not enough.
This was 26 year old Pastrana’s third fight at Bantamweight after jumping up from Jr. Bantamweight and Flyweight. He had been successful until tonight. All three judges had the fight 115-113 in favor of Lacierva. This writer had it 116-113 for Lacierva.
“The added weight contributed a little to my difficulty,” Pastrana said. “Of course, they hit harder here. I started late. In boxing, we have to throw punches and I let him get too far ahead.”
So what is Pastrana going to do now? “I’m going down to 115.”
Lacierva, visibly bruised and cradling his left hand, said: “This is my biggest victory. I won this for my people in Mexico. The added weight worked against Pastrana. Normally, I’m 115, but Pastrana was too small for this weight. He’s a good fighter, he hits hard, but he’s just too small. My advice to him is to go down to 108 or 112. ”
Lacierva continues: “Pastrana hit me with a lot of hard shots, but he never hurt me. I never lost track of where I was.”
While cradling his left hand, Lacierva confirmed that he thinks he broke his left hand: “Pastrana has a hard head. My left hand hurts. I think I broke it.”
A rematch seems natural for a close contest like this, and both fighters admitted they were up to it even though both really wanted to fight Mark Johnson.
Coming off a somewhat close technical decision loss to Jr. Bantamweight king Mark Johnson before the Pastrana fight, Lacierva stated: “I’d like a rematch with Mark Johnson, but Johnson is now in jail, so yes, I’d give Pastrana a rematch.”
Pastrana: “Later on, I’d like a rematch. I know it’ll be different in a rematch. At 115, I know I’ll be dominant.”
Pastrana dropped to 23-1 and 16 KOs, while Lacierva raised his stock and is now 15-3-3 with 10 KOs.
Keith Mullings is determined. Determined to be part of boxing history. And in order to do that, the former WBC Junior Middleweight champion is training.
Constantly. No opponent is signed to fight Mullings as of this writing. Yet, he trains and trains and trains.
But to make into boxing history, Mullings needs a determined opponent in front of him, or so he says.
"I'm training to give the best fight I can give," Mullings said. "Hopefully, we can go back to the days of the Rumble in the Jungle, Ali and Foreman. People still watch those fights. History making fights. That's what I'd like to be part of. I just want to fight my best fight so that there are no regrets."
Mullings is watching fan reaction from a distance at the Miccosukee Indian Gaming. The main events having past and the walk-out fights begun, the crowd voices their gratitude to Hicklet Lau and Edaurdo Martinez as they fight.
Mullings loves the sound.
"When the crowd is in, that's what makes a good fight," says the smiling Mullings.
Mullings, the victim of a few questionable decisions against Javier Castillejo, Raul Marquez and Tony Marshall, believes he beat David Reid in their Jr. Middleweight title fight last year, a fight which turned out to be a losing effort for Mullings.
(Mullings trying to slug with current WBA Jr. Middlweight champ David Reid)
"Reid caught me with 1 or 2 good right hands. I thought I won more rounds hands down. I thought I beat him with short, inside shots against the ropes, where he was a lot of the time. I would like to fight him again when he utilizes his skills better."
But the inevitable question is: Who is going to win the night Welterweight champ Felix Trinidad meet Jr. Middlweight champ David Reid?
"Both chins are suspect. Whoever lands a big shot could win," Mullings said. "Overall, I like Trinidad. Reid is quick, but doesn't utilize his skills well. Trinidad is a sounder fighter, although coming up in weight, I don't know."
As for Mullings' future, rumor has it that Mullings' next bout is against IBO champion Dana Rosenblatt, who recently beat Vinny Pazienza via 12 round decision on ESPN2.
Mullings isn't so sure: "I hear a lot of things, but I haven't seen any papers, any contracts. So far, it's not going to happen. Stylistically, it's a fight I can win. I want to get a knockout so I have to train accordingly."
As he waits for another opportunity, Mullings trains on.
But if not Rosenblatt, then who?
"I'd fight anyone, but I'd really like to fight Trinidad. He comes to fight, that's what I like. Good skills. These days you want to give a good fight, so you have to be prepared for the risk."
With Kostya Tszyu sending ripples of excitement across the boxing world with his punching power and exciting fighting style, comes another product of Austrailia in the form of Junior Lightweight Robbie Peden.
On December 12, on an undercard fight of the Bernard Hopkins-Antwun Echols main event on, 26 year old Robbie Peden pounded his way to a 10 round unanimous decision win over tough Mexican veteran Benito Rodriguez.
Against Rodriguez, who recently upset Kevin Kelley by unanimous decision on August 13, Peden would find a guy who not took his power shots, but kept on coming.
"[Rodriguez] was my toughest fight so far," Peden would say after the fight. "He just kept on coming. He's probably the hardest fighter I've fought."
Rodriguez was a step up for Peden. Rodriguez was a veteran of 59 fights and was bringing considerable experience to the fight. Among the names Rodrguez has fought, but lost to are: Giovanni Parisi, Sugar Baby Rojas, Manuel Medina, Julien Lorcy, Freddie Norwood, Golden Johnson, Guty Espadas, and Diego Corrales. He was stopped several times in his career, but of the big names he fought, only Parisi, Norwood, and Corrales were able to stop him.
Peden was introduced to boxing by his father, Brian Peden, who trained him from when he was 10 until he was 23. His father didn't come to the Rodriguez fight, but stayed home in Brisbane, Austrailia. Peden is now trained by Roger Bloodworth.
Peden also has no particular favorite fighter or fight that motivated him to be a fighter. Instead, those close to him are his motivation.
"My family is my inspiration. They're very supportive."
His favorite weapon in the ring?
"I really have no punch that I particularly prefer. I can punch with either hand and if I hit them properly, they go down. I was knocked down only once and that was as an amateur, but I got up and won the fight."
Peden has been showcased in undercards on FOX Sports Net for the last couple of months and he has impressed.
Last month, on the undercard of the Joel Casamayor-David Santos fight, Peden brutally knocked out Eloy Ortega by fourth round KO. A devestating right hand literally flattened Ortega. The referee didn't even bother to count. However, this is isn't Peden's favorite win.
"I'd probably say my best win was against Willieson Spann, Tracy Spann's brother, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, which was scheduled for 6 rounds. I knocked him out in three. That was a good fight."
Peden says he would like to fight any of the champions at 130 pounds, maybe even Floyd Mayweather, but he is taking it day by day.
"I'll fight any fighter, so long as I get time to prepare and get the proper training. Floyd Mayweather is probably the best in this division right now. He's fought the best fighters, but he seems to be struggling to make weight, so I don't know how long he'll be there."
Peden's record now stands at 15 wins, no losses and 9 wins by KO. He expects to be fighting again sometime in January.
Date: 8/99
Keeping alive hopes of one day fighting Oscar De La Hoya and avenging his loss to Kostya Tszyu, Diobelys Hurtado came back June 19 to beat an experienced veteran and ex-champion in "Lightning" Lonnie Smith by unanimous decision.
It was Hurtado's first fight since his gutsy loss to the power punching Tszyu last November for the interim WBC Junior Welterweight championship, a loss that Hurtado is aching to avenge.
You see, Hurtado wasn't supposed to be fighting for the interim WBC title. He was a last minute replacement for another fighter, Miguel Angel Gonzalez, who was supposed to be in the ring with Tszyu that night. When Gonzalez pulled out of the fight, Hurtado was called in to replace him.
"I was told that I was fighting for the title 10 days prior to the day of the fight and wasn't as prepared as I could've been. I was on vacation and all of the sudden I'm fighting for the world championship in a little over a week."
Against the veteran Lonnie Smith, Hurtado, formerly trained by Lou Duva and now trained by Mariano Leyva and Jerry Lee from Miami, would win a relatively easy decision, scoring an impressive knockdown at the end of the first round, knocking Smith's mouthpiece out of Smith's mouth in the second round and cruised to a 10 round unanimous decision victory with two scores of 98-91 and one score of 96-93. Smith would occasionally score with effective shots, but Hurtado would prove too much for him. This writer had it at 99-91 in favorof Hurtado.
34 year old Smith is the former WBC Super Lightweight champion. He had won that title back in 1987 by knocking out Billy Costello in 8 rounds. Since then, Smith had lost several decisions to Julio Cesar Chavez, Wilfredo Rivera and Ike Quartey. He also fought to a 10 round draw with highly rated Derrell Coley.
The fight was televised on FOX Sports. Hurtado was criticized by FOX's commentators for failing to knock Smith out when he had him hurt. Hurtado would explain that the bell had saved Smith, which was why he couldn't finish him off. The commentators would also point to Hurtado's fights with Tszyu and Whitaker as evidence that Hurtado wasn't a good finisher.
Jerry Lee, one of Hurtado's trainers and the man in charge at Lee's Academy on eighth street in Miami, countered: "I don't see any problem with his finishing ability. No one has been able to finish Lonnie Smith. [Julio Cesar] Chavez was unable to KO Smith. Quartey was unable to KO Smith. When he fought Tszyu, he was in no condition to be in the ring because he was a last minute replacement [for Gonzalez]. When Hurtado fought Whitaker, Hurtado was still young and inexperienced. The commentators, who were criticizing Hurtado from round 1, had their mouths shut when at the end they saw the punch stats that indicated that Hurtado had a much higher connect percentage. They had to stick their tongues where they belong."
Hurtado was born in Santiago, Cuba and came to Miami as an amateur boxer with 12 other fighters on October 24, 1994. He defected a few days afterward. Ever since, he has become a well known professional boxer among the boxing community and has made a name for himself in epic clashes with all time great Pernell Whitaker and rising star Kostya Tszyu, both fights for world championships. However, while Hurtado's success has only begun to come to fruition, he still misses the family and the country he left behind in order to pursue freedom.
"It was very difficult starting a new life. I miss my family constantly, my seven brothers and mother and father. I'm waiting to make enough money to bring them over here if they want to. I speak to them by phone whenever I want but the phone lines over there are very poor, so it's hard to hear them. I always miss my country and I would love to return when Cuba is free again. Right now, Cuba is a disaster. I think there are some changes in the works and hopefully those changes will benefit those who seek liberty.
"Ever since I was 12 years old, I wanted to be a fighter. My older brother was an amateur boxer [in Cuba]. He gave me two pairs of boxing gloves and I would take them to school and play with other kids. I began going to the gym behind my mothers back. She was always very protective of me because I was a sickly little boy, always getting sick for one reason or another, but that all changed as soon as I starting boxing. Once I began to box, I never got sick. However, to turn professional, you have to leave Cuba. There are only amateur divisions in Cuba. So in order to become professional in any sport, you have to leave Cuba."
Hurtado remembers hearing about Sugar Ray Leonard while still in native country and how he always wanted to see him. Now, Leonard remains his favorite fighter and one of his idols.
Hurtado states that of all the fighters he can fight, he wants to fight Welterweight champion Oscar De La Hoya the most. With many fighters, one might think that the reason they want to fight De La Hoya is for the money, but with Hurtado, one gets the impression that it goes beyond money. Hurtado and his trainers seem determined to prove that Hurtado is a greatfighter. "We're willing to fight any champion who is willing to give him a shot," said Lee, "First, we have to gain a title so that we can get De La Hoya in the ring. If De La Hoya still won't fight us, we'll clean out the division and force a match with De La Hoya. We're going to [show everyone] what Cuban fighting is really like [against Smith]."
Since he's so interested in fighting De La Hoya, he was asked who he thought would win the De La Hoya-Felix Trinidad showdown scheduled for September 18, 1999. Hurtado said, "I feel that, at his best, De La Hoya will beat Trinidad."
However, Hurtado doesn't limit his sights to just De La Hoya. "I'll fight any champion," Hurtado says, "but there is also a thorn in my side that I need to take out in the form of Kostya Tszyu."
Hurtado is hungry to avenge his fifth round knockout loss to Tszyu and Hurtado hopes that the path to redemption has begun with his most recent performance over Lonnie Smith.
"I won every round, "Hurtado said after the Smith fight, "I'm back."
