“For Canelo to go out of the weight division and fight some guy who was fighting at 140 lbs last year… I can’t believe it. I don’t know what to say. It’s bullshit. C’mon, fight somebody in our division!”
Top junior middleweight contender “King” Carlos Molina (19-5-2, 6 KOs) is in final preparations for his co-main event appearance against Miami’s Damian “Devo” Frias (19-4-1, 10 KOs) on Friday, August 17, at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma.
29-year-old Molina says he’s over the fiasco that was March battle against Texas slugger James Kirkland and the ridiculous circumstances surrounding his controversial disqualification and is looking forward to taking on the world’s top 154-lb fighters.
But first, he must get by Frias, a skillful southpaw coming off the biggest win of his career, a nine-round stoppage of then 22-1 Henry Crawford.
What do you know about your opponent Damian Frias?
I know he is a left hander, he’s 19-4, but I haven’t seen him fight or anything like that. He’s going to go in there with an advantage because he’s probably seen me fight, but it’s what you do in the ring that matters.
This is the first fight you’ve had in a long time where you’re probably the favorite going in. Does that make a difference?
Everything in boxing is mental. Every time I go into a fight, I pay no attention to who is the favorite or anything like that. I go in there thinking like I’m fighting the baddest guy in the division. I train like that too. I expect to be facing a beast of a world champion every time I go in that ring and that’s why I train as hard as I do. You have to always expect the toughest opponent and prepare properly for him and you’ll always be alright.
You took this fight on fairly short notice. Does that bother you at all?
No, I’m always in the gym trying to get ready and see what happens. You never know when opportunity will knock all you have to do is be ready. I just step up the sparring and I’m good to go in a few weeks.
Where have you been training?
I did most of my training at Jabb Gym in Chicago. I like it because it’s so hot in there. You want extreme conditions when you train. If you can do 12 rounds in 100-degree heat, you can do 10 in 80-degree heat.
How do you feel about (WBC Champion) Canelo Alvarez deciding not to face you and face the much-smaller Josesito Lopez instead in his next fight?
That bothers me because the 154 division is stacked. We need to get to the bottom of this and find out who is the best. Nobody knows right now. Mayweather went up in weight and everybody else is seeing where they fit in. For Canelo to go out of the weight division and fight some guy who was fighting at 140 lbs last year… I can’t believe it. I don’t know what to say. It’s bullshit. C’mon, fight somebody in our division!
How do you feel going into this fight?
Every time I fight, I feel better. I’m still learning a lot with every fight. Maybe it has something to do with my only have six amateur fights, but I’m finding I’m a lot more comfortable with every fight. I’m picking up real quick. I’m 29 and I feel good, but I still feel like I could get a lot better. That’s my number one goal: to work hard and get better.
Presented by Warriors Boxing, Group Yvon Michel and Tony Holden Productions, the blockbuster night of boxing will serve as the ESPN Friday Night Fights season finale for 2012 (10 PM Eastern on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN3) and also features a 12-round super middleweight main event between Chicago’s Don “Da Bomb” George (22-2-1, 19 KOs) and powerful Canadian slugger Adonis “Superman” Stevenson (18-1, 15 KOs).
In Canada, the event will be presented on PPV at Canal Indigo and Bell TV with the telecast starting at 9:00 PM/ET, featuring Stevenson highlights until picking up the ESPN telecast at 10:00 PM/ET
