(R-L) John Molina Jr. connects with a right to the face of Humberto Soto. (Getty)
“Boxing is not a debate contest; boxing is not a song and dance; we don’t play this sport; we actually live it,” said John Molina Jr. on Wednesday during a media conference call in support of his upcoming fight.
Molina will take on the slick boxing Adrien Broner in a double-header card to kick off the Premier Boxing Champions series on March 7 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The fight will be carried live by NBC (8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT).
“We fight; we go in there and it’s two men that are world class athletes that are going to go in there and bring their best A-game to the table,” said the 32-year-old Molina.
Molina was last in action September 2014, losing to Humberto Soto by unanimous decision. Before facing Soto, Molina had been stopped by Lucas Matthysse in the 11th-round of their vicious 2014 Fight of the Year candidate at the StubHub Center in California.
“My competitive nature has always been strong and I don’t anticipate it to be any less strong now come March 7,” Molina said. “So we’re definitely looking forward to this one.”
Despite his record against solid opposition, including his exciting final-round stoppage of Mickey Bey, Adrien Broner will present Molina’s toughest challenge to date. Entering the ring on NBC primetime television after two straight losses, Molina understands this is his best, and perhaps last, chance impress.
Adrien Broner punches Carlos Molina (Getty)
“A win over Adrien Broner erases any hiccups that we had in our career, thus far,” Molina said. “That’s how big of a name Adrien Broner brings to the table and I can respect that. But at the same time, we’re out there to be victorious, give the fans a treat and leave it all on the table and I fully anticipate doing that on March 7th. We’re preparing extremely well to be the best we can be that night.”
Former WBA World welterweight champion Adrien Broner, 25 years old, is coming off back to back victories over Emmanuel Taylor and Carlos Molina after suffering his only defeat to Argentine Marcos Maidana is December 2014.
“I believe Adrien’s a true fighter and I think that he’s going to try to sit there and engage with me,” Molina said. “I think he has a huge amount of pride and a lot of ego, so he’ll definitely want to sit there and exchange with me.”
Broner, who has held world titles at 130, 135 and 147 pounds, sports impressive wins over Paulie Malignaggi, Daniel Ponce de Leon, Antonio Demarco, and Eloy Perez.
“March 7th, we’ve got to train for the best Adrien Broner,” Molina said. “We’ve got to train for the Adrien Broner that’s going to move; we’ve got to train for the Adrien Broner that’s going to come forward; we’re going to train for the Adrien Broner that’s going to try to put on a show.”
The fight is part of the debut of enigmatic manager Al Haymon’s new Premier Boxing Champions series. Also co-featured on March 7, Keith Thurman faces brawler former two-division titleholder Robert Guerrero.
