Molina: Why is Cintron Fighting Alvarez? I Beat Cintron!
Carlos Molina tries to stay calm when he reads that former world champion Kermit “The Killer” Cintron will be challenging Saul “Canelo” Alvarez for his WBC super welterweight championship on November 26 in Mexico and live on HBO.
Molina (19-4-2, 6 KOs) scored a dominant unanimous decision over Cintron last July with none of the judges giving Cintron more than two rounds. The victory capped off a magnificent year that also saw Molina fight to a disputed draw with highly regarded Cuban contender Erislandy Lara. Most had Molina winning that fight as well.
So why is Cintron getting the lucrative title shot while Molina sits at home waiting for his phone to ring?
“That sums it up right there, the way boxing is,” said a dejected Molina. “I won the fight and they give the shot to the guy I beat. They didn’t even offer me the fight. Why?”
Leon Margules of Warriors Boxing thinks he has the answer.
“Carlos is the best 154-lb fighter in the world and the top fighters are avoiding him. I understand that fighters don’t want to lose. That’s understandable. But what about HBO letting Alvarez take the easier road by fighting a guy my guy just beat? He destroyed Cintron and despite that, somehow they are putting Cintron in while Carlos’s phone doesn’t ring. What happened to serving the paying customers by putting on the best fights between the best fighters? Carlos will fight anyone in the world at 154 or 147 lbs.'”
The good-natured Molina says he’ll continue to train hard and wait for his opportunity at a big fight. “Hopefully one of these other guys on top will have what it takes to fight me. I’ll just stay in shape and wait it out.”
Margules, on the other hand, isn’t as forgiving. “You’ve got a fighter who comes back from two years off and scores two huge wins over two top guys and knocks out another well-thought-of fighter on ESPN in impressive fashion. It’s a Cinderella story. Carlos is an exciting fighter who comes forward and throws a lot of punches. He outboxes these guys with old-school techniques. So why is he getting stepped over for a shot at Canelo? It’s not like HBO tried to make the better fight and Carlos wasn’t available. His phone NEVER rang. Situations like this are a problem for our sport. It’s disgraceful. Maybe with the new regime beginning over at HBO these kinds of things will no longer happen.”
