John Molina scored a dramatic come from behind TKO victory with 59 seconds remaining in the 10th and final round of his fight against Mickey Bey on Friday night on Shobox. Molina was being dominated, and really outclassed, all evening long, and was hopelessly behind on the scorecards.
Even in the final stanza, Bey’s athleticism, speed and boxing were punishing Molina, and it looked like he could be on his way to a 10th round stoppage victory for himself. However, Molina never stopped looking for opportunities.
One quick, short left hook on the inside was all it took. Bey was badly hurt and began stumbling around, gassed out from unloading his own arsenal earlier in the round. He didn’t tie up, and he didn’t go down, and that proved to be his demise. Molina simply kept throwing shots and throwing shots, tagging him with enough that he forced the referee to wave off the action, ending the fight and handing Molina a much needed win.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that the turn of events changed, and saved, Molina’s career. A loss would have meant three defeats in four bouts, and relegation to gatekeeper status in the division and nothing more. But he found a way to dig deep and he landed the punch he needed.
Quite simply, Molina is one of the most confounding fighters in the sport today.
In 2009, he dropped a decision to Martin Honorio. Then, in 2010, he defeated a previously unbeaten Hank Lundy, who happened to be in action tonight on a separate card. He worked himself past a year of inactivity to land a title shot against Antonio DeMarco, only to be dispatched in less than one minute of action.
In his next fight, he surprised the boxing world by scoring a KO victory in 4 rounds against Dannie Williams, before losing to the largely unknown Andrey Klimov in the fight after that. And here we are tonight, with Molina on his way to a surefire defeat, and his career hanging in the balance. One punch is all it took.
