One is now a veteran member of the Goossen Tutor Promotions stable; the other is a newcomer. One is from the West Coast; the other from the east. But while they differ in those aspects of their lives, John Molina, Jr. and Farah Ennis share at least three similar qualities: both are hitting their prime boxing years at age 30; neither one lacks in confidence and they both come to fight.
Molina (25-3, 20 KOs), from Covina, California and Philadelphia native Ennis (21-1, 12 KOs) will take on undefeated opponents from Floyd Mayweather’s promotional company in this Friday night’s “ShoBox: The New Generation” doubleheader from The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The SHOWTIME telecast begins at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).
Opposing the hard-hitting Molina in the scheduled 10-round lightweight main event will be Mickey Bey, Jr. (18-0-1, 9 KOs). The co-feature will be a scheduled 10-round super middleweight bout pitting Ennis against Swedish-born Badou Jack (14-0, 10 KOs).
“I am looking to get back on track,” Molina, who recently switched back to his longtime former trainer Joe Goossen, said. “My last fight (a questionable majority decision loss to undefeated Russian Andrey Klimov last month) was a setback. I still think I did enough to win and I know I’m in phenomenal shape and I plan to go out and dominate this fight. All the ducks are in order; the engines are firing on all cylinders. I think it’s going to be a great night this Fridayand I am very excited to be fighting again on SHOWTIME on their ‘ShoBox’ series.”
“Mickey Bey is undefeated, a good boxer and he fights out of the Mayweather camp,” Goossen acknowledged. “Being with ‘Money,’ he’s got everything anyone could have at a camp. Obviously, nobody that’s been put in front of him has been able to solve the puzzle. It’s our job to do that. It’s going to be tough; he’s a tough kid. But I have every belief in my fighter that he is going to win the fight. John has been training very hard. He’s strong right now. He’s looking a lot like you would expect John Molina to look, and that bodes well. He’s very confident that this is going to be a fight that people are going to be talking about afterwards, and so am I.”
“Simply put, John is a very dangerous fighter which translates into havng a television friendly style,” promoter Dan Goossen pointed out. “And if he can come out and beat the undefeated Bey in spectacular fashion, I believe it puts him right back into the thick of the world championship pool.” Goossen continued, “As for Ennis, this is his opportunity to show he belongs with the other highly regarded super middleweights.”
Ennis, who is trained by his father Derek “Bozy” Ennis, will be appearing in his second fight since signing on with Goossen Tutor. He registered a unanimous decision victory over highly regarded veteran Anthony Hanshaw on the ESPN televised Molina-Klimov undercard last month. His only loss was five fights ago by controversial majority decision to 10-0 Alexander Johnson. In going up against the 29-year old Badou, a 2008 Olympian representing Gambia, who knocked out Michael Gbenga on the Mayweather-Robert Guerrero undercard, and traveling west to fight under the big spotlight in Las Vegas on SHOWTIME, the ever-stoic Ennis sees this as nothing more than business as usual.
“It’s just another fight. I keep my emotions on an even keel,” said Ennis, dubbed “The Quiet Storm” because as his co-manager Eddie Woods says: “When he lets those guns go, it’s like thunder and lightning.”
Moz Gonzalez, Ennis’ other co-manager added, “We’re coming out to win, not just as an opponent. They say they are going to use Farah as a steppingstone, but that is what we are planning to use Badou Jack for.”
“What motivates me is that winning this fight leads to the next fight; a bigger fight. More money. And just keep on moving up the ladder toward a world title,” Ennis explained.
